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ERRMANNS 

WIZARDS' 

MANUAL 



ILLUSTRATED 



SECRETS OF MAGIC, BLACK ART, MIND READING, 
VENTRILOQUISM AND KINDRED ARTS. 




AS ACTUALITY PERFORMED BY THE GREATEST 
WIZARDS OF THE WORLD 



1/ / 



tuiA^JU-xS 



HERRMANN'S 
WIZARDS' MANUAL 

A Practical Treatise on Coin Tricks, 
Card Tricks, Sleight-of-Hand, Illusions, 
Black Art, Mind Reading, Spirit 
Mediumship, Ventriloquism, etc., etc. 



SECRETS AND METHODS OF 
PERFORMING MANY MAR- 
VELOUS MYSTERIES, SUCH 
AS HAVE ASTONISHED THE 
PUBLIC OF ALL NATIONS. 

PRICE - - 30$ 
c -^ n 



=OCr 



[NEW AND REVISED EDITION] 



SHREWESBURY PUBLISHING CO. 

CHICAGO. 



if? 



Copyright, 1916, 
By 

SHREWESBURY PUBLISHING COMPANY. 







"*>6 



'CI.A446730 



DEC -7I9IB 



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CONTENTS 

Page 
First Words on Magic . . • • 5 

Coin Tricks 1* 

Card Tricks 43 

Miscellaneous Tricks 68 

Black Art . . ■ • • .117 

How To be a Spirit Medium . . .129 

Mind Reading 135 

Ventriloquism 139 



HERRMANN'S 
WIZARDS' MANUAL 

FIRST WORDS ON MAGIC 

Magic naturally separates into two divisions: One, as 
performed by pure sleight-of-hand with ordinary objects; 
and the other, which depends upon apparatus or mechanical 
appliances; and these are called respectively Drawing- 
room, and Grand or Stage Magic. The former is made 
up of feats depending upon manual dexterity, chemical 
combinations, and arithmetical problems. Grand magic, 
likewise, consists of manual manipulation, and, in addition, 
mechanical appliances, and optical illusions. Cards, of 
course, play an important part in both branches. 

We recommend the following rules to the student: 

First. — Never tell your audience beforehand what you 
are going to do. R you do so, you at once give their 
vigilance the direction which it is most necessary to avoid, 
and increase tenfold the chances of detection. 

Second. — The same trick must not be performed twice 
during the same evening, or before the same audience. 
The reason for this is apparent from the first rule, above. 
There are generally two ways of bringing about the same 
or a similar result, and in the event of your feeling con- 
strained to respond to an encore, you must perform it in 
a different manner. 

Third. — Vary your tricks, for this reason: If you are 
continually doing those depending upon the dexterity of 
the fingers, your audience will become accustomed to their 
movements; therefore, perform in succession tricks of 

5 



6 HERRMANNS WIZARDS' MANUAL 

sleigh t-of -hand, tricks with apparatus, and tricks in " white 
magic, ,, so as to confuse the too inquisitive spectator, and 
yet retain his attention. 

Fourth. — Endeavor to divert the attention of the audi- 
ence as much as possible from your movements, and lead 
them to believe that you perform the trick by a different 
method to that actually employed. 

Fifth. — Accustom yourself to use the eyes and the hands 
independently of each other; remember that the audience 
are observing your actions, and their attention is frequently 
taken from your hands, with which you wish to make a 
certain manipulation, to follow the directions of a glance 
thrown over your shoulder or elsewhere. 

Sixth. — Never act the buffoon, nor pass ungentlemanly 
personalities; by such you only make yourself ridiculous, 
and gain the ill-will of some present. It will frequently 
happen that a magician's audience will contain some clever 
busybody who knows how such-and-such a trick is done, 
and informs his neighbors of the fact. Should such a 
person come under your notice during an entertainment, 
you can easily find an opportunity of bringing him to ac- 
count, and making him the laughing-stock of the hall, 
without being actually rude. 

Seventh. — On no account ascribe a very dexterous trick 
to supernatural power, as that which is clever and mar- 
velous in its execution will be quite as amusing and enter- 
taining to an intelligent people as the result of the laws 
of Nature, as the miraculous would be to the ignorant. 

Eighth. — When performing before a company, have as 
many lights as you please in front of you, but be careful 
to have none behind, for this reason: In the event of 
your showing such a thing as a handkerchief, or other 
semi-transparent article, to be empty, when there is a 
bag of eggs inside, the light from behind would at once 
show up the extra thickness in the material, and give a 
clew to the trick. 



HERRMANN'S WIZARDS' MANUAL 7 

Ninth. — 'Last, but not least, cultivate the art of " talk- 
ing." A clever magician is not of much account unless 
he is well up in his " part." He may perform the manipu- 
lation in a masterly manner (this is technically called the 
" business ") ; but an actor must know his " part " as 
well as the " business " ; the same applies to the magician. 
To do well, a magician must prepare what he is going 
to do, and also quite as carefully what he is going to 
say; learn the spoken part thoroughly, and rehearse as 
patiently as an actor about to take a part in an opera. 
Speech, like the eyes, can be made to take the attention 
away from the hands, which is very desirable at times, 
and at the same time serves to enhance the brilliancy of 
a trick which might fall flat upon an audience if merely 
performed in the manner of a machine. Therefore, we 
must impress most forcibly that speech is an absolute ne- 
cessity to a conjuror; " dumb-show " will not take. 

The following minor rules are important to every 
magician : 

Keep your hands warm, for it is almost impossible to 
do sleight-of-hand tricks if the hands are cold. An acute 
sense of touch is necessary, and this is lost if the hands 
are benumbed. 

Should some accident happen whilst performing a 
trick, and the desired result is impossible, on no account 
admit a failure, but either finish the trick in a less brilliant 
manner, or turn the mishap to account as though inten- 
tional, and make it develop into another trick: a poor 
one is better than to acknowledge a failure. To do this 
well, it is advisable to keep cool and collected; do not 
allow yourself to be hurried, and so be ready for any 
contretemps. Dexterity and quickness are essential, but 
there is such a thing as being too quick and spoiling all. 
You must bear in mind that after some changes have 
taken place, it is as well to lead the audience to believe 
that you are still manipulating. 



8 HERRMANN'S WIZARDS' MANUAL 

You must accustom yourself to pick up objects from the 
table or servante without looking at them. Ascertain 
beforehand the position of anything that may be required, 
and take it up with one hand, whilst the other claims the 
attention of the company. Do not go behind the table 
more than absolutely necessary ; remain by the side in 
preference if you are required to be in proximity to it. 
Cultivate a cheerful manner of address. Avoid making 
poor jokes and rapid movements in locomotion. A ready 
wit has many advantages when properly utilized, but 
this should not be exercised in personalities to an audi- 
ence, or in such a manner as to make anyone feel uncom- 
fortable. 

Impudence and buffoonery are intolerable when prac- 
ticed by a magician on the stage. Always maintain the 
character of a gentleman, and on no account get irritated 
or show annoyance at an ill-bred remark from one of the 
audience; treat it either as a joke or take no notice of it 
— your own tact will dictate the best manner of treat- 
ment, according to the circumstances of the case. 

THE MAGIC WAND. 

This is a light rod, twelve or fifteen inches in length, 
and about three-quarters of an inch in diameter. It may 
be of any material, and decorated in any manner which 
the fancy of the owner may dictate. To the uninitiated 
its use may appear a mere affectation, but such is by no 
means the case. Apart from the prestige derived from 
the traditional properties of the wand, and its use by the 
wizards of all ages, it affords a plausible pretext for many 
necessary movements, which would otherwise appear awk- 
ward and unnatural, and would thereby arouse the 
vigilance of the audience at possibly the most critical 
period of the trick. Thus, if the performer desires to 
hold anything concealed in his hand, by holding the wand 
in the same hand he is able to keep it closed without ex- 



HERRMANN'S WIZARDS' MANUAL 9 

citing suspicion. If it is necessary, as frequently hap- 
pens, to turn his back upon the audience for an instant, 
the momentary turn to the table, in order to take up or 
lay down the wand, affords the required opportunity. 
We most strongly advise the would-be magician to culti- 
vate from the outset the habitual use of the wand. The 
dainty touch of the wand, for the supposed purpose of 
operating a magical transformation, assists materially in 
leading the audience to believe that such transformation 
did actually take place at that particular moment, instead 
of having been (as is really the case) secretly effected at 
an earlier period. 

THE MAGICIAN'S TABLE. 

The first necessity of the amateur is a proper table. 
The table necessary for an average drawing-room exhi- 
bition differs from an ordinary table in two points only: 
its height, which is about six inches greater than usual; 
and the addition of a hidden shelf or ledge at the back. 
It should have turned legs of some hard wood, stained 
and polished, and these, if it is desired to make the table 
portable, should be screwed into the four corners, so as 
to be readily taken off and put on again. In length it 
may be three to four feet, and in breadth eighteen inches 
to two feet. At the back should be fixed, about six inches 
below the level of the top of the table, a projecting shelf, 
six to eight inches in width, and extending nearly from 
end to end. This shelf, which is technically known as 
the servante, should be covered with thick woolen cloth, 
in order to deaden the sound of any object falling on 
it. 

The manner of fixing the servante is optional. In some 
tables it is made to slide in and out like a drawer; in 
others to fold on hinges against the back of the table, or 
itself to form the back. This latter is the most con- 
venient mode, as the opening made by the flap when let 



io HERRMANN'S WIZARDS' MANUAL 

down gives access to the interior of the table, which 
forms a convenient receptacle for necessary articles. Over 
the table should be thrown an ordinary cloth table-cover, 
of such a size as to hang down about ten or fifteen inches 
at the front and sides, but not more than an inch or so 
on the side away from the audience. To prevent its slip- 
ping, the cloth may be fastened on this side with a couple 
of drawing-pins. The precise height of the table should 
be determined by the stature of the performer. The 
servant e should be just so high from the ground as to be 
level with the knuckles of the performer as his arm hangs 
by his side; and the top of the table, as already stated, 
about six inches higher than this. It will be found that 
this height will enable the performer secretly to take up 
or lay down any article thereon without stooping or 
bending the arm, either of which movements would sug- 
gest to the spectators that his hand was occupied in some 
manner behind the table. One of the first tasks of the 
novice should be to acquire the power of picking up or 
laying down any article on the servante without making 
any corresponding movement of the body, and especially 
without looking down at his hands, for if the audience 
once suspect that he has a secret receptacle behind the 
table, half the magic of his tricks is destroyed. 

An oblong box, twelve or fourteen inches in length by 
three in depth, well padded with wadding, and placed on 
the servante, will be found very useful in getting rid of 
small articles, such as coin, oranges, etc., as such articles 
may be dropped into the box without causing any sound, 
and therefore without attracting attention. 

In default of a table regularly made for the purpose, 
the amateur may adapt an ordinary table for use as a 
make-shift. A common kitchen-table having a drawer 
on one side, and raised on four bricks or blocks of wood 
to the requisite height, will answer the purpose very 
fairly. The table must be covered with a cloth; the 



HERRMANN'S WIZARDS' MANUAL n 

drawer, pulled out about six inches on the side remote 
from the audience, forming the servante. 

THE MAGICIAN'S DRESS. 

The preferred costume of the magician of the present 
day is ordinary evening dress. The effect of the feats 
performed is greatly heightened by the close fit and com- 
parative scantiness of such a costume, which appears to 
allow no space for secret pockets or other place of con- 
cealment. In reality, however, the magician is provided 
with two special pockets, known as profondes, placed in 
the tails of his dress coat. Each is from four to six inches 
in depth and seven in width, and the opening, which is 
across the inside of the coat-tail, slanting slightly down- 
ward from; the center to the side, is, like the servante, 
so placed as to be just level with the knuckles of the 
performer, as his hand hangs by his side. He can thus, 
by the mere action of dropping either hand to his side, 
let fall any article instantly into the profonde on that 
side, or take anything from thence in like manner. The 
action is so natural that it may be used under the very 
eyes of the audience, at very small risk of being observed ; 
and if the performer at the same moment slightly turns 
his other side to the spectators he may be perfectly secure 
from detection. Some performers have also a couple of 
pochettes (small pockets) made in the trousers, one be- 
hind each thigh. These are generally used for purposes 
of production only, the profondes being still employed 
for getting rid of any article. Many professors, in ad- 
dition to the pockets above mentioned, have also a spa- 
cious pocket, opening perpendicularly, inside the breast 
of the coat, under each arm for the purpose of what is 
called " loading," i. e., bringing a rabbit or other article 
into a hat, etc. Other pockets may be added, as the 
fancy or invention of the performer may dictate. 

An elastic band, about an inch in width, should be 



12 HERRMANN'S WIZARDS' MANUAL 

stitched around the lower edge of the waistcoat on the 
inside. When the waistcoat is in wear the band makes 
it press tightly round the waist, and any object of moder- 
ate size — a card or pack of cards, a handkerchief, etc., — 
may be slipped under it without the least risk of falling. 
Used in conjunction with the pockets before described, 
this elastic waistband affords a means of instantaneously 
effecting " changes " of articles too large to be palmed 
with safety, one hand dropping the genuine article into 
the profonde on that side, while the other draws the pre- 
pared substitute from under the waistband, a very slight 
turn of the body toward the table or otherwise sufficing 
to cover the movement. 

THE VANISHING GLOVES. 

This favorite trick of Herrmann the Great is a capital 
one with which to commence an entertainment; when 
coming, as it should do, unannounced, and before the 
performance proper has commenced, it has an air of im- 
provisation which greatly enhances its effect, and at once 
awakens the attention of the audience. 

The performer comes forward in full evening dress. 
While saying a few words by way of introduction to 
his entertainment, he begins to take off his gloves, com- 
mencing with that on his right hand. As soon as it is 
fairly off, he takes it in his right hand, waves the hand 
with a careless gesture, and the glove is gone. He be- 
gins to take off the other, walking as he does so behind 
his table, whereon his wand is laid. The left-hand glove 
being removed, is rolled up into a ball,, and transferred 
from the right hand to the left, which is immediately 
closed. The right hand picks up the wand, and with it 
touches the left, which being slowly opened, the second 
glove is found to have also disappeared. 

The disappearance of the first glove is effected by 
means of a piece of cord elastic, attached to the back of 



HERRMANN'S WIZARDS' MANUAL 13 

the waistcoat, and thence passing down the sleeve. This 
should be of such a length as to allow the glove to be 
drawn down and put on the hand, and yet to pull it 
smartly up the sleeve and out of sight when released. 
It is desirable to have a hem round the wrist of the 
glove, and to pass the elastic through this like the cord 
of a bag, as it thereby draws the wrist portion of the 
glove together, and causes it to offer less hindrance to its 
passage up the sleeve. Upon taking off the glove, the 
performer retains it in his hand, and lets it go when he 
pleases. He must, however, take care to straighten his 
arm before letting it slip, as otherwise the elastic will 
remain comparatively slack, and the glove will, instead 
of disappearing with a flash, dangle ignominiously from 
the coat-cuff. 

The left-hand glove is got rid of by palming. The 
performer, standing behind his table as already men- 
tioned, rolling the glove between his hands, and quickly 
twisting the fingers inside, so as to bring . it into more 
manageable form, pretends to place it in his left hand, 
but really palms it in his right. He now lowers the 
right hand to pick up his wand, and as the hand reaches 
the table, drops the glove on the servante. He now 
touches the left hand w T ith the wand, in due course open- 
ing the hand and showing that the glove has departed. 

Some performers cause both gloves to vanish by means 
of elastic, one up the right sleeve, the other up the left, 
but in doing so they offend against one of the cardinal 
precepts of the art, viz. : never to perform the same trick 
twice in succession by the same means. The spectators 
having seen the manner of the first disappearance, are 
all on the alert, and are not unlikely on the second occa- 
sion to guess the means employed. If, on the other hand, 
the performer adopts the plan indicated above, the two 
modes of producing the effect being different, each ren- 
ders it more difficult to discover the secret of the other. 



COIN TRICKS 

Before attempting tricks with coin, it will be necessary 
to practice certain sleights and passes which more espe- 
cially belong to this particular branch of the magic art, 
though the sleight-of-hand used in coin tricks is more 
or less applicable to most other small objects. 

Palming. — The first sleight which the novice must 
seek to acquire is that of " palming "— i. e. y secretly 
holding an object in the open hand by the contraction 
of the palm. To acquire this accomplishment, take a 
half-dollar (this being the most convenient in point of 
size), and lay it on the palm of the open hand. (See 
Fig. i.) Now close the hand very slightly, and if you 
have placed the coin on the right spot (which a few trials 
will quickly indicate), the contraction of the palm around 
the edges will hold it securely (see Fig. 2), and you may 
move the hand and arm in any direction without fear of 
dropping it. You should next accustom yourself to use 
the hand and fingers easily and naturally, while still 
holding the coin as described. Practice will enable you 
to do this. You must bear in mind while practicing al- 
ways to keep the inside of the palm either downwards or 
towards your own body, as any reverse movement would 
expose the concealed coin. When you are able to hold 
the coin comfortably in the right hand, practice in like 
manner with the left, after which you may substitute for 
the coin a watch, an egg, or a small lemon — all these 
being articles of frequent use in conjuring. 

14 



HERRMANN'S WIZARDS' MANUAL 15 

The Pass. — The " pass " has for its object the appar- 
ent transfer of an article from one hand to the other. In 
making passes the same movement should not be frequently 
repeated, as this may excite suspicion and possibly lead to 
detection. 

It is hardly necessary to remark that the diagrams 
represent the hands of the performer as seen by himself. 

Take the coin in the right hand, between the second 
and third fingers and the thumb (see Fig. 3), letting it, 




Fig. 1. 



Fig. 2. 



however, really be supported by the fingers, and only 
steadied by the thumb. Now move the thumb out of 
the way, and close the second and third fingers, with the 
coin balanced on them, into the palm. (See Fig. 4.) 
If the coin is placed right in the first instance, you will 
find that this motion will put it precisely in the position 
above described as the proper one for palming; and on 
again extending the fingers, the coin is left palmed, as 
in Fig. 2. When you can do this easily with the hand 
at rest, you must practice doing the same thing with the 
right hand in motion toward the left, which should 
meet it open, and should close the moment that the fin- 
gers of the right hand touch its palm, as though upon 
the coin which you have by this movement feigned to 
transfer to it. The left hand must thenceforward re- 



1 6 HERRMANN'S WIZARDS' MANUAL 

main closed, as if holding the coin, and the right hand 
hang loosely open, as if empty. 

In the case of an article of larger size than a coin — 
as, for instance, a watch or an egg — you need not take 
the article with the fingers, but may let it simply lie on 
the palm of the right hand, slightly closing that hand as 
you move it towards the left. The greater extent of 
surface in this case will give you plenty of hold, without 
the necessity of pressing the article into the palm. Re- 




Fig. 3. 



Fig. 4. 



member that, in any case, the two hands must work in 
harmony, as in the genuine act of passing an article from 
the one hand to the other. The left hand must there- 
fore rise to meet the right, but should not begin its journey 
until the right hand begins its own. Nothing looks more 
awkward or unnatural than to see the left hand ex- 
tended with open palm, before the right hand has begun 
to move towards it. 

After the pass is made, a judicious use of the wand 
will materially assist in concealing the fact that the object 
still remains in the right hand. For this purpose the 
performer should, before commencing the pass, carelessly 
place the wand under either arm, as though merely to 
leave his hands free. Immediately that the pass is made 
the right hand should, with a sort of back-handed move- 



HERRMANN'S WIZARDS , MANUAL 17 

ment, which under the circumstances is perfectly natural, 
grasp the wand, draw it from under the arm, and thence- 
forth retain it till an opportunity occurs of disposing of 
the coin as may be necessary. The position of the fingers 
in the act of holding the wand is such as to effectually 
mask the concealed coin, while yet the hand appears per- 
fectly easy and natural. 

To Secretly Change a Coin. — You desire, we will 
suppose, to exchange — or, in conjurers' parlance, to 
" ring " — a coin, marked by a spectator. You have a 
coin, which we will call the " substitute," ready palmed 
in your left hand, of course taking care to keep the palm 
turned away from the audience. Taking the marked 
coin in the right hand, you palm it in that hand by the 
Pass, but instead of closing the left hand, as the fingers 
of the right touch it, keep that hand loosely open, and 
show lying on its palm the substitute, which the spec- 
tators take to be the original just placed there by your 
right hand. 

A word of caution may here be desirable. These 
passes must by no means be regarded as being themselves 
tricks, but only as processes to be used in the perform- 
ance of tricks. If the operator, after pretending to pass 
the coin, say, from the right hand to the left, and show- 
ing that it had vanished from the left hand, were to 
allow his audience to discover that it had all along re- 
mained in his right hand, they might admire the dexterity 
with which he had in this instance deceived their eyes, 
but they would henceforth guess half the secret of any 
trick in which palming was employed. If it is necessary 
immediately to reproduce the coin, the performer should 
do so by appearing to find it in the hair or whiskers of 
a spectator, or in any other place that may suit his pur- 
pose, remembering always to indicate beforehand that it 
has passed to such a place, thereby diverting the general 
attention from himself. As the coin is already in his 



18 HERRMANN'S WIZARDS' MANUAL 

hand, he has only to drop It to his finger-tips as the hand 
reaches the place he has named, in order, to all appearance, 
to take it from thence. 

Having given this little piece of advice as to the hand 
in which the coin actually is, we must add a few words 
more as to the hand in which it is not. Whenever you 
have (apparently) placed any article either in the closed 
hand, or in some piece of apparatus from which it is 
afterwards to disappear, you should not, as a rule, show 
that the article has departed from the spot where you 
have apparently placed it, without interposing some 
magical process, however slight, which may colorably ac- 
count for its disappearance. A mere nothing will suffice 
• — a touch of the wand, the pronouncing of a magic 
formula, the pressure of a finger; but in some form or 
other the ceremony should never be omitted. Thus, to 
take a very simple example, we will suppose that by 
means of the Pass you have apparently placed in the 
left hand a coin, which really remains in the palm of 
the right. If you at once open the left hand, and show 
that the coin is not there, the spectators will naturally 
jump to the correct explanation, viz., that you did not, 
in reality, put the coin there at all. If, however, you 
delay opening the left hand for a minute or two, so as 
to let the audience get accustomed to the idea that the 
coin is therein, and then, before opening it, touch the 
hand mysteriously with your wand, or even simply, as 
you slowly open the left hand, rub the ball of the wrist 
with the fingers of the hand which holds the coin, you 
not only give that hand an occupation apparently incon- 
sistent with the fact of anything remaining concealed in it, 
but you suggest to the audience that the gesture in ques- 
tion is the cause of the disappearance of the coin, It is 
surprising what an effect even such a trifle as this has in 
misleading the judgment of a spectator. He knows per- 
fectly well, in the abstract, that touching the closed hand 



HERRMANN'S WIZARDS' MANUAL 19 

with the wand, or rubbing it with a finger of the opposite 
hand, is not an adequate cause for the disappearance of 
the coin ; but the fact being indisputable that the coin 
has disappeared, the mind unconsciously accepts the ex- 
planation which is thus indirectly offered. The advice 
here given becomes less important where, before the hand 
is opened, you are able to get rid of the object from that 
in which it originally appeared. Here the spectator is 
precluded from imagining that you retained it in the hand 
in which he first saw it, as that hand also is shown to be 
empty, and the absolute disappearance of the coin being 
a self-evident fact, you may leave the spectator to account 
for it in his own manner. 

The passes and exchanges are of continual use in con- 
juring; indeed, we may say that three parts of its mar- 
vels depend on them. Such an exchange having been 
made, the substitute is left in sight of the audience, while 
the performer, having thus secretly gained possession of 
the original, disposes of it as may be necessary for the 
purpose of the trick. 

The Half-dollar Wand. — This is a wand, appar- 
ently of ebony, but really of brass, japanned black. It is 
about twelve inches in length, and five-eighths of an inch 
in diameter. On one side of it, and so placed as to be 
just under the ball of the thumb when the wand is held 
in the hand, is a little stud, which moves backwards and 
forwards for a short distance (about an inch and a quar- 
ter) like the sliding ring of a pencil case. When this 
stud is pressed forward, a half-dollar appears on the 
opposite end of the wand (see Fig. 6), retiring within it 
when the stud is again drawn back. The half-dollar is 
a genuine one, but it is cut into three portions, as indi- 
cated in Fig. 7, which represents a transverse section 
of it at right angles to the actual cuts. Each of the three 
segments is attached to a piece of watch-spring, and from 
the direction of the cuts it is obvious that, when these 



20 HERRMANN'S WIZARDS' MANUAL 

pieces of watch-spring are pressed together (as they natu- 
rally are when drawn back into the" wand), c will be 
drawn behind, and a in front of b. (See Fig. 5.) 

The wand can be used as follows: The performer 
palms in his left hand as many half-dollars as he intends 
to produce. Then, taking the wand in the right hand, 
and lightly touching with it the spot whence he desires 
to (apparently) produce a half-dollar, he pushes forward 




Fig. 5. Fig. 6. 

the stud, and the split coin appears on the opposite end 
of the wand. He now draws the upper part of the wand 
through the left hand, at the same moment pressing back 
the stud, and causing the split coin to retire within the 
wand, immediately handing for examination with the left 
hand one of the half-dollars already placed there, and 
which by this gesture he appears to have just taken from 
the top of the wand. This is again repeated, and another 
half-dollar exhibited, till the stock in the left hand is 
exhausted. 

It is desirable, on each occasion of pressing forward 
or withdrawing the stud, to place the opposite end of 
the wand in such a situation as to be a little shielded 



HERRMANN'S WIZARDS' MANUAL 21 

from the eyes of the spectators, so that they may not see 
the actual appearance or disappearance of the coin. A 
very slight " cover " will be sufficient. The end of the 
wand may be placed within a person's open mouth (and 
withdrawn with the half-dollar thereon), within a pocket, 
or the like. Where no such cover is available a quick 
semi-circular sweep should be made with the wand as 
the coin is protruded or withdrawn. 

The wand may be effectively introduced in the trick 
of the Shower of Money, which next follows. After 
having caught in the ordinary manner such number of 
coins as he thinks fit, the performer perceives, or pre- 
tends to perceive, that the audience suspects that the coins 
are in some manner concealed in his right hand. To 
show that this is not the case he offers to catch a few 
coins on the top of his wand instead of in his hand, and 
finishes the trick by producing two or three on the wand 
accordingly. Wherever you can, as in this instance, 
produce the same result by two wholly different methods, 
the effect on the spectators is most bewildering. Their 
conjectures as to the explanation of the first method being 
inadmissible as to the second, and vice versa. The more 
they puzzle over the matter the further they are likely 
to be from a correct solution. 

The Shower of Money. — The performer borrows a 
hat, which he holds in his left hand. Turning up his 
sleeves, he announces that he requires a certain number, 
say ten, of half-dollars. The- spectators put their hands 
in their pockets with the idea of contributing to the sup- 
posed loan; but the professor, anticipating their inten- 
tion, says, " No, thank you ; I won't trouble you this 
time. There seems to be a good deal of money about 
to-night; I think I will help myself. See, here is a half- 
dollar hanging to the gaselier. Here is another climbing 
up the wall. Here is another just settling on this lady's 
hair. Excuse me, sir, but you have a half-dollar in your 



22 HERRMANN'S WIZARDS' MANUAL 

whiskers. Permit me, madam; you have just placed your 
foot on another," and so on. At each supposed new dis- 
covery the performer takes with his right hand, from 
some place where there clearly was nothing an instant 
before, a half-dollar, which he drops into the hat held in 
his left hand, finally turning over the hat, and pouring 
the coins from it, to show that there has been " no de- 
ception. " 

The explanation is very simple, the trick being merely 
a practical application of the art of " palming," though 
its effect depends on the manner and address of the oper- 
ator even more than on his skill in sleight-of-hand. The 
performer provides himself beforehand with ten half-dol- 
lars. Of these he palms two in his right hand and the 
remainder in his left. When he takes the hat he holds 
it in the left hand, with the fingers inside and the thumb 
outside, in which position it is comparatively easy to drop 
the coins one by one from the hand into the hat. When 
he pretends to see the first half-dollar floating in the air 
he lets one of the coins in his right hand drop to his finger 
tips, and, making a clutch at the air, produces it as if just 
caught. The first coin he really does drop into the hat, 
taking care that all shall see clearly that he does so. He 
then goes through a similar process with the second, but 
when the time comes to drop it into the hat he merely 
pretends to do so, palming the coin quickly in the right 
hand, and at the same moment letting fall into the hat 
» one of the coins concealed in his left hand. The spec- 
tators, hearing the sound, naturally believe it to be occa- 
sioned by the fall of the coin they have just seen. The 
process is repeated until the coins in the left hand are 
exhausted. Once more the performer appears to clutch a 
coin from space, and, showing for the last time that which 
has all along been in his right hand, tosses it into the air 
and catches it visibly in the hat. Pouring out the coins 
on a tray, or into the lap of one of the company, he re- 



HERRMANN'S WIZARDS' MANUAL 23 

quests that they may be counted, when they are found 
to correspond with the number which he has apparently 
collected from the surrounding atmosphere. 

Sometimes a performer, by way of bringing the trick 
to a smart conclusion, after he has dropped in all the 
coins, will remark, " The hat begins to get heavy," or 
he will make some similar observation, at the same time 
dipping the right hand into the hat, as if to gauge the 
quantity obtained; and he will then give the money a 
shake, bringing up the hand with four or five of the coins 
slipped breadthwise against the lowest joints of the sec- 
ond and third fingers. Then he will pretend to catch in 
quick succession that number of coins, each time sliding 
one of the coins with the thumb to the finger tips, and 
tossing it into the hat. 

The Tray of Proteus. — The tray will not only 
change, but add, subtract, or vanish coins, under the very 
eyes of the spectators. In form it is an oblong octagon, 
measuring eight inches by six, and standing about three- 
quarters of an inch high. (See Fig. 8.) It is divided 
across the center, and one half of the center portion is 
movable. The opposite or fixed side of the tray is di- 
vided horizontally (see Fig. 9, representing a longitudinal 
section) into two levels or platforms, a and b, the lower, 
bj having a raised edge. Where the tray is to be used 
for the purpose of " changing," the coins to be substituted 
are placed in a row on the upper platform, a. The genu- 
ine coins are placed by the performer, holding the tray 
as indicated in Fig. 8, on the movable flap, c. Slightly 
lowering the opposite end of the tray, he presses the but- 
ton dj thus sloping the flap c, and the coins naturally 
slide into b. Still keeping the flap open, he now tilts up 
the opposite end of the tray. The genuine coins cannot 
return, by reason of the raised edge of b; but the sub- 
stitute coins in their turn slide out upon c, which is then 
allowed to return to its original position. The necessary 



24 HERRMANNS WIZARDS' MANUAL 

movement is in skillful hands so rapid in execution that, 
where coins of the same kind are substituted — e. g., 
half-dollars for half-dollars — the most acute spectator 
cannot detect that any change has taken place. A most 
startling effect is produced by substituting coins of a 
different kind, as pennies for half-dollars, the coins ap- 
pearing to be transformed by a mere shake into a different 
metal. The change involving a double process — viz., 




^ 



c c <Z 



Fig. 9. 

the disappearance of certain coins and the appearance of 
others — ■ it is obvious that the tray will be equally avail- 
able for either process singly. Thus coins placed upon 
the tray may be made to instantly vanish, or, by reversing 
the process, coins may be made to appear where there was 
nothing a moment previously. In like manner, a given 
number of coins may be increased to a larger, or decreased 
(in this case really changed) to a smaller number. 

This tray has one end of a and b closed by a little 
slide, hidden beneath the edge of the tray, to allow of the 
money therein being extracted when necessary. 

To Make a Person Find Himself Richer than He 
Thought He was. — This would be an agreeable and 



HERRMANN'S WIZARDS' MANUAL 25 

welcome surprise to most of us; unfortunately, it is but 
transitory in this instance. You commence by asking the 
assistance of a gentleman to act as broker, as you wish 
to borrow twelve quarters and he is to collect them. 
Having done so, you tell him to count them, one at a 
time, on the table, to make sure he has the right number, 
and while he is doing so you ask another person also to 
assist you, and palm four quarters of your own. You 
now ask the person with the money to give you four 
quarters, which you request your second assistant to hold ; 
and then, counting the other eight, you take them in your 
hand, offer them to the first person to hold, and placing 
them in his hand, you drop the palmed four with them, 
and tell him to close his hand tightly upon them, and 
extend his arm. Now take the four coins from the other 
party, and, holding them between the second finger and 
thumb of the right hand, appear to transfer them to the 
left, but make the pass, retaining them in the right hand, 
and close the left in the usual way, giving the impression 
to the audience that you really have transferred them to 
that hand. You must now drop the four coins so re- 
ceived into your pocket or elsewhere. Ask the person 
holding the coins whether he has let any drop, and how 
many he had. He replies that he has eight. You then 
tell him that you are going to make the four you hold 
pass from your hand into his, and he will then have an 
even dozen. Make the assumed magical passes with the 
wand, and give the command for the coins to pass from 
your left hand into his, and then, upon opening your 
hand, it is found to be empty, and upon his counting the 
coins out upon the table he finds he has twelve instead of 
eight. 

To Fill with Coins a Tumbler which is upon the 
Stage, the Coins being Collected in the Audience. — 
You have two tumblers, one of which is upon the servant e 
and filled with gold or silver coins, or a mixture of both; 



26 HERRMANN'S WIZARDS' MANUAL 

imitation coins will do for this, and these can be pro- 
cured at any of the conjuring depots. The other tumbler 
is upon the table, as is also a large handkerchief. You 
pass the empty tumbler and handkerchief round for exami- 
nation, and upon their being returned you retire to your 
table ; then, appearing to throw the handkerchief over 
the empty tumbler from the front, you rapidly exchange 
it for the full one upon the servante, and taking it by 
the top through the handkerchief, place it upon a table 
or chair at the back of the stage. The most difficult part 
is the collection of coins, for which you must be an adept 
at sleight-of-hand. You must palm five or six coins, and 
then going down to the audience you must affect to find 
the coins first in one place, then in another, sometimes 
a single one and sometimes several, which you " pass " 
into the tumbler upon the stage, your assistant behind the 
scenes dropping into the glass one or more as you instruct 
him by saying the number you have found: he would, of 
course, vary the time of the several journeys, to give a 
more genuine impression. Each time you found a coin 
or coins you would have to show them, and in order to 
avoid being too closely watched, you would have to go 
in various parts of the audience, and keep moving from 
place to place. You should have coins palmed in either 
hand, so as to catch the coins in either direction without 
intimation. If you only had them in one, of course the 
audience would confine their attention to that one; but 
as you use both the attention is more than divided, as the 
spectators do not know which you are going to use as 
you dart out first the right and then the left. When you 
have collected a certain number, you return to the stage 
and upon removing the handkerchief the glass is found 
to be more or less full of coins, which you empty out 
upon a table, but do not pass them for examination. In 
the event of this trick being performed in a small hall or 
drawing-room, the assistant would also have to cover his 



HERRMANN'S WIZARDS' MANUAL 27 

glass with a handkerchief, to deaden the sound of the 
dropping coins. 

New Coin Catching. — The trick consists in catching 
a few stray half-dollars from the air upon the brim of 
some borrowed hat. 

To work this experiment a faked coin must be used. 




Fig. 11. 



A half-dollar will have to be hinged to a small black 
steel clip (see Fig. 10), which is of a size to fit moder- 
ately tight over the brim of a hat. Now the secret should 
be apparent. A hat is borrowed, and the clip slipped 
over the brim in the act of returning to the stage. 

Because of the hinge the coin will lay down behind 
the brim, and the clip will not be noticed on account of 
its being the same color as the hat, which must be held 



28 HERRMANN'S WIZARDS' MANUAL 



in the right hand, while the left secretly palms two or 
three coins from some convenient pocket. 

Now, if the hat is jerked sharply upward, the half- 
dollar will suddenly appear upon the edge of the brim, 
from where it is apparently removed by the left hand. 
Instead of taking the faked coin 
away, one of the palmed half-dol- 
lars is produced and the hinged 
piece of money pushed back behind 
the brim. 

This operation can be executed 
any number of times until the sup- 
ply of palmed money is exhausted ; 
the prepared coin can then be re- 
moved in such a manner that the 
finger and thumb hide the clip 
while it is being placed on to the 
table with the other half-dollars so 
mysteriously produced The il- 
lustration (Fig. n) will explain 
anything that is not quite clear. 

To Produce Coins from a 
Lighted Candle.— The "candle" 
in this case is a metal tube, ja- 
panned in imitation of wax, with a space an inch or so 
deep at top for the insertion of a small piece of real can- 
dle. In the lower part of the tube is an opening. ( See Fig. 
12), admitting of a number of quarters being packed, one 
upon another, within the body of the candle, where they 
are kept in position, just level with the upper part of the 
opening, by the downward pressure of a spiral spring. 
The edges of the horizontal part of the opening are turned 
in on either side just sufficiently to prevent the coins being 
forced beyond that point, though they can be drawn out 
horizontally with the tip of the finger with the greatest 
ease. The construction of the center portion of the candle 




Fig. 12. 



HERRMANN'S WIZARDS' MANUAL 29 

is, in fact, exactly like that of the brass purses sold for 
containing a number of coins. 

The candle is brought forward, lighted, and placed 
on the table. (It is hardly necessary to remark that the 
opening is kept studiously to the back, and not shown in 
profile, as in our illustration.) The performer, requir- 
ing a quarter for the purpose of some trick, first en- 
deavors, after the usual manner of conjurers, to borrow 
it, but, bethinking himself, says, " But I need not trouble 
you — I'll get it from the candle." 

So saying, he places his hand behind the candle, and 
gently strokes it from bottom to top (fingers on one side 
and thumb on the other), terminating at the flame, at 
which he makes a sort of pinch. He does this once or 
twice without result, but at, say, the third " stroke," in- 
serts, the tip of the third finger into the opening, and 
draws out one coin, which he carries quickly upward, 
and produces it as if from the flame. The pile is pressed 
down by the spring, and the next coin brought to the 
opening, to be produced in due course. 

Twelve or more coins may be thus produced in suc- 
cession. 

The Animated Coin, which Answers Questions. — 
The performer borrows a coin, and after making a few 
mesmeric passes over it, drops it into a glass upon the 
table where it immediately begins to jump about as if 
alive. The performer then announces that the coin thus 
mesmerized has the power of fortune-telling, naming 
chosen cards, predicting the number that will be thrown 
by a pair of dice, etc. The coin answers " Yes " by 
jumping three times, " No " by jumping once. 

One plan is for the performer to have a coin of his 
own, to which is attached a long black silk thread, the 
other end of which is in the hand of an assistant behind 
the scenes, or elsewhere out of sight of the audience. 
This coin is placed on the table in readiness, but con- 



3 o HERRMANN'S WIZARDS' MANUAL 

cealed from the spectators by some larger object in front 
of it. When the performer advances to the table with 
the borrowed coin, he secretly picks up the prepared one, 
and drops the latter into the glass as being that which he 
borrowed. A short, quick jerk of the thread by the as- 
sistant w T ill make the coin spring up and fall back again, 
producing the required chink. It is only necessary to be 
careful not to jerk the thread so violently as to make the 
coin fly out of the glass. It is desirable, where practicable, 
to make the thread pass either through a hole in the top 
of the table, or a ring fixed to its surface and placed im- 
mediately behind the glass. This will keep that portion 
of the thread nearest to the glass perpendicular behind it, 
in which position it will be completely hidden by the 
glass, and so be invisible. 

Some performers prefer to use the actual coin borrowed. 
The arrangements in this case are the same as above de- 
scribed, save that the silk thread, instead of having a 
substitute coin attached to it, has merely a pellet of wax 
at its end. The performer having handed round the 
glass for inspection, and standing in front of the table 
w T ith his left side turned towards the audience, picks up 
a pellet of wax with his right hand at the same moment 
that, holding the borrowed coin in his left hand, he begs 
the spectators to take especial notice that he really uses 
the borrowed coin, and no other. Having said this, he 
transfers the coin, by a perfectly natural movement, to 
his right hand, and pressing against the waxen pellet, 
drops it into the glass. 

The ordinary fortune telling questions, as to " Which 
young lady will be married first? " " Which spends the 
most time at her looking-glass?" "Which has most 
sweethearts?" and so on, are either answered in accord- 
ance with previous arrangement, or according to the 
fancy of the moment. Of course, where a question of 
this kind is asked, the performer takes care to follow up 



HERRMANN'S WIZARDS' MANUAL 31 

the question by designating a number of persons in suc- 
cession, so that a mere " Yes " or " No " may be a suffi- 
cient answer. 

To Make a Coin Pass up Your Sleeve. — This is 
a sleight-of-hand trick, and a little practice will enable 
you to do it well. Take a coin between the forefinger 
and thumb; then, by a rapid twist of the fingers, twirl 
it by a similar movement as though about to spin a teeto- 
tum ; at the same time close your hand, and the coin will 
vanish up your coat sleeve, and you can show your hand 
to be empty. 

To Make a Coin Pass up the Right-arm Coat- 
sleeve, Round the Back, Down the Left Arm, and 
Into the Hand. — This is a capital illusion, but is really 
the outcome of the above. You have a half-dollar palmed 
in the left hand, and then borrow two others, one of 
which take in each hand, between the forefinger and 
thumb. With the right hand you send the coin up the 
sleeve, and instantly close both hands, so that the coins 
in the left hand (the one palmed and the other held in 
the fingers) are brought together in the left hand. Shake 
your shoulders, as though helping the one from the right 
hand to pass round. This, apparently, having been ef- 
fected, open the left hand, and show the two coins, one 
of which is supposed to have passed round the body. 

A Lost Coin to Drop from the Ceiling into a 
Tumbler. — To commence with, turn up the cuffs of your 
coat as though you meant business, and then place a 
half-dollar upon your elbow — the arm being bent for 
the purpose, by raising the hand towards the shoulder. 
Suddenly straighten the arm, and catch the coin in your 
hand. You say, " That is catch one, and easily done 
with practice," but you will show them another; and this 
time place the coin between the elbow and the wrist, and 
by suddenly bringing the arm down the coin will fall, 
unseen by anyone, into the turned-up cuff. You pretend 



32 HERRMANN'S WIZARDS' MANUAL 

that you have not got it, remarking that it went too high 
for you to catch; however, you will cause it to fall from 
the ceiling into a tumbler, for which purpose you take 
a tumbler, and place it upon the table. Presuming the 
coin to be in the right cuff, you take the wand in the 
left hand, and raising it towards the ceiling, directing 
the eyes towards a point above, "you make certain signs, 
and then, raising the right hand, without drawing atten- 
tion to it, above the glass, the coin will fall into the 
tumbler with an unmistakable chink. You instantly 
lower the arm, and inquire if no one saw the descent of 
the coin. 

The Floating Coin. — As an after-dinner trick this 
little experiment will be hard to beat. The conjurer 
borrows a coin and places it easily and steadily on the 
surface of a finger bowl full of water, and on removing 
his hand the coin floats on the top of the liquid. Any- 
one else attempting the same trick will only be rewarded 
by seeing the coin immediately sink to the bottom of the 
bowl. In reality this experiment is not performed with 
the actual borrowed coin, but with one which has been 
substituted for it. This duplicate coin can be made in 
two different ways: the first by casting a fac-simile in 
solid aluminum, the second by procuring two half shells 
of a coin and soldering them together. Both these fakes 
will float, although the first one is to be recommended 
because it gives a true ring when sounded on the table, 
having an almost undetectable difference from the ring 
of a genuine piece of money, and, moreover, it is not 
generally known that aluminum will float. The working 
should now be plain. A coin is asked for, of the same 
value as the one that you have palmed. Taking one of 
the offered pieces, it must be exchanged for the fake, 
which is floated, and then changed back again before al- 
lowing someone else to try the same trick. 

To Rub One Coin into Three. — This is a simple 



HERRMANN'S WIZARDS' MANUAL 33 

little parlor trick, but will sometimes occasion great won- 
derment. Procure three quarters of the same issue, and 
privately stick two of them with wax to the under side 
of a table, at about half an inch from the edge, and eight 
or ten inches apart. Announce to the company that you 
are about to teach them how to make money. Turn up 
your sleeves, and take the third quarter in your right 
hand, drawing particular attention to its date and gen- 
eral appearance, and indirectly to the fact that you have 
no other coin concealed in your hands. Turning back 
the table-cover, rub the coin w T ith the ball of the thumb 
backwards and forwards on the edge of the table. In 
this position your fingers will naturally be below the 
edge. After rubbing for a few seconds, say, " It is nearly 
done, for the coin is getting hot"; and, after rubbing 
a moment or two longer with increased rapidity, draw 
the hand away sharply, carrying away with it one of the 
concealed quarters, which you exhibit as produced by the 
friction. Pocketing the waxed coin, and again showing 
that you have but one coin in your hands, repeat the 
operation with the remaining quarter. 

The Davenport Cabinet. — This little cabinet is use- 
ful for vanishing coins, watches and the like. It is four 
inches high and two and a half square, and consists of 
two parts, an outer case, or body, covered at the top, but 
otherwise open throughout, and a drawer, occupying the 
upper portion of its interior space. (See Fig. 13.) 
When the drawer is removed, the case, which has no 
bottom, may be examined throughout, and will be found 
to be perfectly plain and unsophisticated ; save that a keen 
examiner might observe a little brass pin, a quarter of 
an inch long, projecting from the back of the cabinet on 
the inside, just on a level with the bottom of the drawer 
when replaced in its proper position. The drawer may 
also be examined, and will be found to be perfectly plain, 
with the bottom (which is so thin as to preclude any 



34 HERRMANN'S WIZARDS' MANUAL 



suspicion of a concealed space), covered within and with- 
out with black cloth. On turning the drawer round, 
and examining the back, a minute hole may be discovered, 
corresponding in situation with the brass pin already 
mentioned. If a pin be thrust into this hole, the pur- 
pose of the two is immediately manifest; for the pressure 
of the pin releases a tiny catch, and allows the bottom 
of the drawer, which is in reality only supported by this 
catch at the back and a cloth hinge in the front, to drop 
into the position indicated in Fig. 14. This is precisely 




Fig. 13. 



Fig. 14. 



Fig. 15. 



what takes place when the drawer, being restored to its 
proper position in the cabinet, is duly closed. The pres- 
sure of the brass pin at the back releases the catch, and 
the bottom of the drawer falls as just described, and 
allows any article which may have been placed therein 
to drop into the hand of the person holding the cabinet. 
(See Fig. 15.) The act of pulling out the drawer again 
presses the bottom up to its proper place, where it is se- 
cured by the catch until once more released by the pres- 
sure of the pin. The strong point of this ingenious little 
apparatus is that it is absolutely self-acting, and its secret 
can only be detected by examining the cabinet from below 
at the moment when the drawer is pushed home; and 
this it is easy to prevent by the simple expedient of hand- 
ing each portion separately for inspection. 



HERRMANN'S WIZARDS' MANUAL 35 

The manner in which it is used is as follows: After 
having passed the case and the drawer for inspection, 
take the case upon your left hand, and ask someone to 
place a marked coin in the drawer, and that in its turn 
into the case; when it has been thrust back you press the 
pin, the bottom falls out and the coin comes into your 
hand waiting for the purpose. You now place the cabinet 
upon the table, and having come into possession of the 
marked coin, you can place it in an orange or elsewhere, 
and make the coin pass from the cabinet to the orange, 
which, when cut open, shows the coin in the center, while 
upon anyone of the audience opening the drawer, there 
is nothing to show that it has been opened, nevertheless, 
the coin has gone. This is an ingenious contrivance, as 
both parts can be examined. 

The Nest of Boxes. — This consists of a number, gen- 
erally six, but sometimes more, of circular wooden boxes, 
one within the other, the largest or outer box having 
much the appearance, but being nearly double the size, 
of an ordinary tooth-powder box, and the smallest being 
just large enough to contain a quarter. The series is 
so accurately made, that by arranging the boxes in due 
order one within the other, and the lids in like manner, 
you may, by simply putting on all the lids together, close 
all the boxes at once, though they can only be opened 
one by one. 

These are placed — the boxes together and the lids to- 
gether — anywhere so as to be just out of sight of the 
audience. If on your table, they may be hidden by any 
more bulky article. Having obtained possession of a coin 
which is ostensibly deposited in some other piece of appa- 
ratus, e. g., the Davenport Cabinet, you seize your oppor- 
tunity to drop it into the innermost box, and to put on 
the united lids. You then bring forward the nest of 
boxes (which the spectators naturally take to be one box 
only), and announce that the quarter will at your com- 



36 HERRMANN'S WIZARDS' MANUAL 

mand pass from the place in which it has been deposited 
into the box which you hold in your hand, and which 
you forthwith deliver to one of the audience for safe 
keeping. Touching both articles with the mystic wand, 
you invite inspection of the first to show that the money 
has departed, and then of the box, wherein it is to be 
found. The holder opens the box, and finds another, 
and then another, and in the innermost of all, the marked 
coin. Seeing how long it has taken to open the several 
boxes, the spectators naturally infer that it must take as 
long to close them, and (apart from the other mysteries of 
the trick), are utterly at a loss to imagine how, w T ith 
the mere moment of time at your command, you could 
have managed to insert the coin, and close so many boxes. 

If you desire to use the nest for a coin larger than a 
quarter, you can make it available for that purpose by 
removing beforehand the smallest box. Nests of square 
boxes, with hinged lids and self-closing locks, are made, 
both in wood and in tin, on the same principle. These 
are designed for larger articles, and vary in size and 
price. 

The Ball of Berlin Wool. — An easy and effective 
mode of terminating a money trick is to pass the marked 
coin into the center of a large ball of Berlin wool or 
worsted, the whole of which has to be unwound before 
the coin can be reached. The modus operandi, though 
perplexing to the uninitiated, is absurdly simple when 
the secret is revealed. The only apparatus necessary over 
and above the wool (of which you must have enough for 
a good-sized ball), is a flat tin tube, three to four inches 
in length, and just large enough to allow the coin you 
intend to use for the trick to slip through it easily. You. 
prepare for the trick by winding the wool on one end of 
the tube, in such manner that when the whole is wound 
in a ball, an inch or so of the tube may project from it. 
This you place in your pocket, or anywhere out of sight 



HERRMANN'S WIZARDS' MANUAL 37 

of the audience. You commence the trick by requesting 
someone to mark a coin, which you forthwith exchange 
for a substitute of your own, and leave the latter in pos- 
session or in view of the spectators, while you retire to 
fetch your ball of wool, or simply take it from your 
pocket. Before producing it, you drop the genuine coin 
down the tube into the center of the ball, and withdraw 
the tube, giving the ball a squeeze to remove all trace 
of an opening. You then bring it forward, and place it 
in a glass goblet or tumbler, which you hand to a spec- 
tator to hold. Taking the substitute coin, you announce 
that you will make it pass invisibly into the very center 
of the ball of wool, which you accordingly pretend to 
do, getting rid of it by means of the Pass. You then 
request a second spectator to take the loose end of the 
wool, and to un- 
wind the ball, up- 
on which, when he 
has done, the coin 
falls out into the 
goblet. 

The only draw- 
back to the trick 
is the tediousness 
of the process of 
unwinding. To ob- 
viate this, some -pw. l6> 
performers use a 

wheel made for the purpose, which materially shortens 
the operation. 

The Rattle Box. To Make a Coin Vanish from 
the Box, though Still Heard to Rattle within It. — 
This is a useful and ingenious little piece of apparatus. 
It is an oblong mahogany box, with a sliding lid. Its 
dimensions are about three inches by two, and one inch in 
depth externally; internally, it is only half that depth, 




38 HERRMANN'S, WIZARDS' MANUAL 

and the end piece of the lid is of such a depth as to be 
flush with the bottom. Thus, if a coin be placed in the 
box, and the box held in. such a position as to slant down- 
wards to the opening, the coin will of its own weight fall 
into the hand that holds the box (see Fig. 16), thus 
giving the performer possession of it without the knowl- 
edge of the audience. 

Between the true and the false bottom of the box is 
placed a slip of zinc, which, when the box is shaken 
laterally, moves from side to side, exactly simulating the 
sound of a coin shaken in the box. In its normal con- 
dition, however, this slip of zinc is held fast (and there- 
fore kept silent) by the action of a spring also placed 
between the two bottoms, but is released for the time 
being by a pressure on a particular part of the outer bot- 
tom (the part in contact with the fingers in Fig. 16). 
A casual inspection of the box suggests nothing, save, per- 
haps, that its internal space is somewhat shallow in pro- 
portion to its external measurement. 

The mode of using it is as follows: The performer 
invites any person to mark a coin, and to place it in the 
box, which he holds for that purpose as represented in 
the figure; and the coin is thus no sooner placed in the 
box than it falls into his hand. Transferring the box 
to the other hand, and pressing the spring, he shakes it to 
show by the sound that the coin is still there ; then, leav- 
ing the box on the table, he prepares for the next phase 
of the trick by secretly placing the coin, which the audi- 
ence believes to be still in the box, in any other apparatus 
in which he desires it to be found, or makes such other 
disposition of it as may be necessary. Having done this, 
and having indicated the direction in which he is about 
to command the coin to pass, he once more shakes the 
box to show that it is still in statu quo. Then, with the 
mystic word " Pass! " he opens the box, which is found 
empty, and shows that his commands have been obeyed. 



HERRMANN'S WIZARDS' MANUAL 39 

The Demon Handkerchief (Le Mouchoir du 
Diable). — -This causes the disappearance of any article 
placed under it, and is available to vanish not only coin, 
but a card, an egg, a watch, or any other article of moder- 
ate size. It consists of two handkerchiefs, of the same 
pattern, stitched together all round the edges, and with 
a slit of about four inches in length cut in the middle of 
one of them. The whole space between the two hand- 
kerchiefs thus forms a kind of pocket, of which the slit 
above mentioned is the only opening. In shaking or 
otherwise manipulating the handkerchief, the performer 
takes care always to keep the side with the slit away 
from the spectators, to whom the handkerchief appears 
to be merely the ordinary article of everyday use. When 
he desires by its means to cause the disappearance of any- 
thing, he carelessly throws the handkerchief over the 
article, at the same time secretly passing the latter through 
the slit in the under side, and hands it thus covered to 
someone to hold. Then, taking the handkerchief by one 
corner, he requests him to let go, when the object is re- 
tained in the space between the two handkerchiefs, ap- 
pearing to have vanished into empty air. 

Odd or Even, or the Mysterious Addition. — This 
is a trick of almost childish simplicity, depending upon 
an elementary arithmetical principle. We have, however, 
known it to occasion great perplexity, even to more than 
ordinarily acute persons. 

You take a handful of coins or counters, and invite 
another person to do the same, and to ascertain privately 
whether the number he has taken is odd or even. You 
request the company to observe that you have not asked 
him a single question, but that you are able, notwith- 
standing, to divine and counteract his most secret inten- 
tions, and that you will in proof of this, yourself take a 
number of coins, and add them to those he has taken, 
when, if his number was odd, the total shall be even; if 



40 HERRMANN'S WIZARDS' MANUAL 

his number was even, the total shall be odd. Requesting 
him to drop the coins he holds into a hat, held on high 
by one of the company, you drop in a certain number on 
your own account. He is now asked whether his num- 
ber was odd or even; and, the coins being counted, the 
total number proves to be, as you stated, exactly the re- 
verse. The experiment is tried again and again, with 
different numbers, but the result is the same. 

The secret lies in the simple arithmetical fact, that if 
you add an odd number to an even number the result 
will be odd; if you add an odd number to an odd num- 
ber the result will be even. You have only to take care, 
therefore, that the number you yourself add, whether 
large or small, shall always be odd. 

A Coin Being Spun upon the Table, to Tell 
Blindfold Whether It Falls Head or Tail Up- 
wards. — You borrow a half-dollar, and spin it, or invite 
some other person to spin it, on the table (which must 
be without a cloth). You allow it to spin itself out, 
and immediately announce, without seeing it, whether it 
has fallen head or tail upwards. This may be repeated 
any number of times with the same result, though you 
may be blindfolded, and placed at the further end of the 
apartment. 

The secret lies in the use of a coin of your own, on 
one face of which (say on the " tail " side) you have cut 
at the extreme edge a little ' notch, thereby causing a 
minute point or tooth of metal to project from that side 
of the coin. If a coin so prepared be spun on the table, 
and should chance to go down with the notched side up* 
wards, it will run down like an ordinary coin, with a 
long continuous " whirr," the sound growing fainter and 
fainter till it finally ceases; but if it should run down 
with the notched side downwards, the friction of the 
point against the table will reduce this final whirr to 
half its ordinary length, and the coin will finally go down 



HERRMANN'S WIZARDS' MANUAL 41 

with a sort of " flop." The difference of sound is not 
sufficiently marked to attract the notice of the spectators, 
but is perfectly distinguishable by an attentive ear. If, 
therefore, you have notched the coin on the " tail " side, 
and it runs down slowly, you will cry " tail " ; if quickly, 
" head." 

If you professedly use a borrowed coin, you must 
adroitly change it for your own, under pretense of show- 
ing how to spin it, or the like. 

You should not allow your audience to imagine that 
you are guided by the sound of the coin, as, if once they 
have the clew, they w r ill easily learn to distinguish the 
two sounds. They are not, however, likely to discover the 
secret of the notch, and if anyone professes to have found 
out the trick, you may, by again substituting an unpre- 
pared coin, safely challenge him to perform it. 

The Magic Quarter. — Procure a small round box, 
about one inch deep, to which fit accurately a quarter or 
cent: line the box with any dark paper (crimson, for in- 
stance), and paste some of it on one side of the coin, so 
that when it lies in the lower part of the box it shall ap- 
pear like the real box. This quarter or cent is concealed 
in the hand, and before performing the trick, it will 
heighten the effect if a number of single quarters or 
cents are hidden about the room, in places known to 
yourself. Having borrowed a coin, you dexterously place 
this on one side, and substitute the prepared one; and 
putting it gravely into the box, ask all to be sure they 
have seen it enter: when the lid is on, shake up and 
down — the noise betrays the metal ; now command it to 
disappear, and shake laterally from side to side; as the 
quarter is made to fit accurately, no noise is apparent — 
the coin seems to be gone; in proof of which you open 
the box, and display the interior; the paper on the coin 
conceals it, whilst you direct the audience to look into a 
book, or a pair of slippers, for the missing quarter; the 



42 HERRMANN'S WIZARDS' MANUAL 

prepared coin can be slipped out, and the box handed 
round for examination, in which, of course, nothing will 
be found. This trick may be repeated two or three times 
with the greatest success, and is so simple that nobody 
guesses the manner of performance. 

The Disappearing Dime. — Provide yourself with a 
piece of India rubber cord about twelve inches long, and 
a dime with a hole on the edge; attach the dime to the 
cord with a piece of white sewing silk, and after having 
done this, sew the cord to your coat sleeve lining, but be 
very careful and ascertain that the end upon which the 
dime is attached does not extend lower than within two 
inches of the extreme end of the sleeve when the coat is 
on. It is better to have the dime in the left arm sleeve. 
Having done this, bring down the dime with the right 
hand, and place it between the thumb and index finger 
of the left hand, and, showing it to the company, tell 
them that you will give the coin to anyone present who 
will not let it slip away. You must then select one of 
the audience to whom you proffer the dime, and just as 
he is about to receive it you must let it slip from between 
your fingers, and the contraction of the elastic cord will 
make the coin disappear up your sleeve, much to the as- 
tonishment of the person who thinks he is about to receive 
it. This feat can be varied by pretending to wrap the 
coin in a piece of paper, or a handkerchief. Great care 
should be taken not to let any part of the cord be seen, 
as this would, of course, discover the trick. 



CARD TRICKS 

Among the various branches of the conjurer's art none 
will better repay the labor of the student, whether artist 
or amateur, than the magic of cards. It has the especial 
advantage of being, in a great measure, independent of 
time and place. The materials for half its mysteries are 
procurable at five minutes notice in every home circle. 

The adept in sleight-of-hand should accustom himself 
to the use of every description of cards, but whenever pos- 
sible in actual performance ordinary cards of the " steam- 
boat " pattern should be used. In any case, it is well 
to use only the piquet pack of thirty-two cards (the twos, 
threes, fours, fives, and sixes being removed), the com- 
plete pack being inconveniently bulky for sleight-of-hand 
purposes. 

To Make the Pass (Sauter la Coupe). — The effect 
of this sleight, which is the very backbone of card con- 
juring, is to reverse the respective positions of the top and 
bottom halves of the pack, i. e., to make those cards which 
at first formed the lower half of the pack come upper- 
most, when those cards which at first formed the upper 
half will, of course, be undermost. 

Hold the pack in the left hand lengthwise, with the 
face downward, as if about to deal at any game. In this 
position the thumb will naturally be on the left side of 
the pack and the four fingers on the other. Insert the 
top joint of the little finger immediately above those cards 
which are to be brought to the top of the pack (and which 
are now undermost), and let the remaining three fingers 
close naturally on the remaining cards, which are now 

43 



44 HERRMANN'S WIZARDS' MANUAL 

uppermost. (See Fig. 17.) In this position you will 
find that the uppermost part of the pack is held between 

the little finger, 
which is under- 
neath, and the re- 
maining ringers, 
which are upon 
it. Now advance 
the right hand 
and cover the 
pack with it. 
Grasp the lower 
portion of the 
pack lengthwise 
between the 
second finger at the upper and the thumb at the lower 
end, the left thumb lying, slightly bent, across the pack. 
Press the inner edge of the lower packet into the fork 




Fig. 17. 




Fig. 18. 

of the left thumb, so that the two packets will be as 
shown in Fig. 18. Next draw away the upper packet 
by slightly extending the fingers of the left hand, at 
the same time lifting up the outer edge of the lower 



HERRMANN'S WIZARDS' MANUAL 45 

packet, till the edges of the two packets just clear each 
other (see Fig. 19), when by the mere act of closing 
the left hand they will be brought together as at first, 
save that they will have changed places. Do this at 
first very slowly, aiming only at neatness and noiseless- 
ness of execution. At the outset the task will be found 
somewhat difficult, but gradually the hands will be found 




Fig. 19. 

to acquire a sort of sympathetic action, the different move- 
ments which we have described will melt, as it were, into 
one, and the two packets will seem to actually pass through 
each other. A slight momentary depression and elevation 
of the hands (apparently a mere careless gesture) in the 
act of making the pass will completely cover the transpo- 
sition of the cards, which in the hands of an adept is 
invisible, even to the most watchful spectator. 

The above is the most perfect method of making the 
Pass, and if the student be proficient in this he need trouble 
himself very little about other methods. 



46 HERRMANN'S WIZARDS' MANUAL 

To Force a Card. — By this phrase is signified the 
compelling a person to draw such a card as you desire, 
though he is apparently allowed absolute freedom of 
choice. Your first step is to get a sight of the bottom 
card, or, if you want to force a predetermined card, to 
get that card to the bottom. Having done this, take the 
pack in the left hand and insert the little finger half way 
down in readiness to make the pass. Make the pass, but 
before uniting the two halves of the pack in their new 
position again slip the little finger of the left hand be- 
tween them. (The two halves will now be united at 
the end which is toward the spectators, but divided by 
the little finger at the end nearest to yourself, and the 
original bottom card, which is the one you desire to force, 
is now the bottom of the top heap, resting on the little 
finger.) Using both hands, with the thumbs above and 
the fingers below the pack, spread out the cards fan-wise 
from left to right, at the same time offering them to the 
person who is to draw, and requesting him to select a 
card. Keep the little finger of the left hand still on the 
face of the card to be chosen, or you may now use, if more 
convenient, the same finger of the right hand, both being 
underneath the cards. As the person advances his hand 
to draw, move the cards onward with the thumb, so that 
the particular card shall reach his fingers just at the mo- 
ment when he closes them in order to draw, and if you 
have followed these directions properly it is ten to one 
that he will draw the card you wish. It may possibly 
be imagined that forcing is a very difficult matter, and 
requires an extraordinary degree of dexterity, but this is 
by no means the case. The principal thing which a be- 
ginner must guard against is a tendency to offer the par- 
ticular card a little too soon. When the cards are first 
presented to the drawer the pack should be barely spread 
at all, and the card in question should be ten or fifteen 
cards off. The momentary hesitation of the drawer in 



HERRMANN'S WIZARDS' MANUAL 47 

making his choice will give time, by moving the cards 
quicker or slower, as may be necessary, to bring that card 
opposite his ringers at the right moment. Should the 
performer, however, miscalculate his time, and the card 
pass the drawer's fingers before the choice is made, he 
need not be embarrassed. Still keeping the little finger 
on the card, he should sharply close the cards, and, mak- 
ing some remark as to the drawer being a difficult to 
please " or the like, again spread them as before, and 
offer them for the choice. 

A moderate degree of practice will make the student 
so proficient that even a person acquainted with the secret 
of forcing will have to be very wide-awake in order not 
to take the desired card. There are some illusions which 
depend upon the drawer taking a card similar in suit and 
number to one already prepared elsewhere for the purpose 
of the trick. In this case it is, of course, absolutely neces- 
sary that the card drawn should be the right one, and as 
even the most accomplished performer cannot always be 
certain of forcing a single card, another expedient must 
be used in order to insure success. This is made abso- 
lutely certain by the use of what is called a " forcing 
pack " — i. e., a pack in which all the cards are alike. 
Thus if the knave of hearts is the card to be drawn, the 
whole pack will consist of knaves of hearts, and the drawer 
may therefore do his utmost to exercise a free choice, but 
the card which he draws will certainly be the knave of 
hearts, and no other. 

To " Slip " a Card.— Hold the pack in the left hand, 
having first slightly moistened the fingers, which should 
rest upon the back of the cards. Open the pack book- 
wise, at an angle of about 45 degrees, holding the upper 
packet lengthwise between the thumb and second finger 
of the right hand. Draw this upper packet smartly up- 
ward to a distance of two or three inches from the lower 
packet. (See Fig. 20.) The top card of the upper 



48 HERRMANN'S WIZARDS' MANUAL 

packet, being held back by the pressure of the fingers 
upon it, will not move upward with the rest of the packet, 
but immediately the remaining cards are clear will fold 
itself down on the top of the lower packet. If the top 
card of the lower packet be examined before and after 
the slip, the card will appear to have changed, the fact 
being that the original top card becomes the second after 
the slip, the slipped card covering it. 




Fig. 20. 

To "Change" a Card (Filer la Carte).— -Some of 
the most brilliant effects in card conjuring are produced 
by the aid of this sleight, by means of which a card, fairly 
exhibited, is forthwith apparently transformed to a differ- 
ent one. 

Hold the pack in the left hand, as though about to 
deal the cards. Hold the card to be changed in the right 
hand, between the first and second fingers. (See Fig. 
21.) The card into which it is to be changed should 
have been previously placed (secretly, of course) on the 
top of the pack. Push this card a little forward with the 
left thumb, so as to make it project about three-quarters 
of an inch beyond the remaining cards. Bring the hands 



HERRMANN'S WIZARDS' MANUAL 49 

close together for an instant, and in that instant place 
the card held in the right hand under the pack (the sec- 
ond, third, and fourth fingers of the left hand opening 
to receive it, and the remaining finger making way for 
it as soon as it reaches the pack). Simultaneously with 
this movement, the thumb and first finger of the right 
hand must close upon the card projecting from the top 
of the pack, and as the hands separate carry with them 
that card in place of the one which the right hand origi- 
nally held. A half turn of the body to the left or right, 




Fig. 21. 

a quick downward sweep of the right hand, or any other 
rapid gesture, will assist in covering the momentary bring- 
ing together of the hands. 

To Spring the Cards from One Hand to the 
Other. — This is a mere flourish, and belongs rather to 
the art of the juggler than to that of the magician, but 
it is so frequently exhibited by conjurers that a work on 
magic would hardly be complete without some notice of 
it. The cards are held in the right hand, between the 
tips of the second and third fingers at the top, and the 
thumb at the bottom. If the thumb and fingers are now 
brought slowly nearer together, so as to bend the cards 
slightly, they will one by one, in quick succession (begin- 
ning with the bottom card) spring away from the pack; 



50 HERRMANN'S WIZARDS' MANUAL 

and if the pressure be continued, the whole of the cards 
will spring away one after the other in this manner. If 
the left hand be held at ten or twelve inches from the 
right, with the fingers slightly bent, the released cards 
will be shot into the left hand, which, as the last cards 
reach it, should be rapidly brought palm to palm with 
the right, and square up the pack to repeat the process. 
By giving the body a quick half turn to the right as the 
cards are sprung from one hand to the other you may 
make the hands (and with them the moving cards) de- 




Fig. 22. 

scribe an arc of about two feet, and so deceive the eye 
of the spectator into the belief that the hands are that 
distance apart, though in reality, as they both move to- 
gether in the same direction, they retain throughout their 
original relative distance of ten or twelve inches. 

To Throw a Card. — This sleight also belongs rather 
to the ornamental than to the practical part of conjuring, 
but it is by no means to be despised. It is a decided 
addition to a card trick for the performer to be able to 
say, " You observe, ladies and gentlemen, that the cards 
I use are all of a perfectly ordinary character," and by 
vvay of offering them for examination, to send half a 
dozen in succession flying into the remote corners of the 
hall or theater. 

The card should be held lightly between the first and 



HERRMANN'S WIZARDS' MANUAL 51 

second fingers, in the position shown in Fig. 22. The 
hand should be curved inward toward the wrist, and then 
straightened with a sudden jerk, the arm being at the 
same time shot sharply forward. The effect of this move- 
ment is that the card as it leaves the hand revolves in the 
plane of its surface in the direction indicated by the dotted 
line, and during the rest of its course maintains such revo- 
lution. This spinning motion gives the flight of the card 
strength and directness which it would seem impossible to 
impart to so small and light an object. 

A skilled performer will propel cards in this way to a 
distance of sixty or eighty feet, each card traveling with 
the precision and well-nigh the speed of an arrow shot 
from a bow. The movement, though perfectly simple in 
theory, is by no means easy to acquire in practice. Indeed, 
we know no sleight which, as a rule, gives more trouble at 
the outset, but after a certain amount of labor with little 
or no result, the student suddenly acquires the desired 
knack, and thenceforth finds no difficulty whatever in the 
matter. 

New Thought Card Sleight.— This is an entirely 
new method of discovering the name of a card that a 
spectator has secretly thought of. 

The performer takes a pack of cards that has just been 
shuffled by a spectator, and, holding the cards (of the 
order of which he has absolutely no knowledge) in the right 
hand, with the backs of the cards toward himself, passes 
them one at a time into the left hand, at the same time 
requesting a spectator to think of any card that he de- 
sires. After the person has signified that he has made a 
selection, the performer closes up the pack and gives it 
a thorough shuffle. He now finishes the trick in any 
manner that he chooses, producing, for instance, the 
thought card at any number called for, or causing any 
card that someone else selects at random from the pack 
to change into a thought card. 



52 HERRMANN'S WIZARDS' MANUAL 

The secret of this entirely new dodge depends prac- 
tically upon a novel application of the mind reading act, 
a la Bishop and Cumberland. As the performer deliber- 
ately passes the cards from the right hand to the left, he 
counts them, at the same time carefully watching the eyes 
of the spectator, to whom he is rather close. It is a 
curious fact that as soon as the latter has made a silent 
choice his eyes will give a recognition of that fact by the 
glance losing its intensity. The conjurer can thus almost 
invariably tell which card has been selected, and, having 
kept tally on the number of cards passed, knows its exact 
position in the pack. It is a comparatively easy matter 
for him to make the pass at this place, thereby bringing 
the desired card to the top of the pack, which is next 
subjected to a vigorous but false shuffle. The finish of 
the trick, which is optional with the performer, ought to 
be made as brilliant a one as possible. 

To Distinguish the Suit of Any Given Card by 
Weight. — This feat depends upon a little preliminary 
preparation of the cards. Selecting a pack with glazed 
backs, you " mark " them by the simple expedient of 
drawing a wet finger with some little pressure across one 
end of each, as follows: For the hearts, right along the 
edge; for the spades, from the left-hand corner half way" 
across, and for the clubs, from the middle to the right- 
hand corner. The diamonds have no mark. The strip 
of moistened surface should not be more than an eighth 
of an inch in width. The cards being allowed to dry, 
it will be found that, when looked at obliquely, the glazed 
surface shows a dull streak wherever the finger has passed, 
although not sufficiently marked to attract the attention 
of the casual observer. 

The performer hands the cards to be shuffled, and re- 
quests that they be given back to him one by one, when 
he will tell, by its weight, of what suit each card is. He 
receives the card face downward on the extended right 



HERRMANN'S WIZARDS' MANUAL 53 

hand, and, moving it gently up and down, as though to 
estimate its weight, is able without difficulty to observe 
how it is marked, and to describe it accordingly. If it 
bears no mark he declares with confidence that it is a 
diamond. 

Should anyone seem to have a suspicion that the cards 
are marked, a diamond may be put into his hand for 
examination. These, having no mark, tell no tales. 

To Make All the Cards, Except a Chosen One, 
Fall to the Floor. — Having brought the chosen card to 
the bottom of the pack, and face upwards, request one of 
the audience to hold the cards for you for a moment. 
You tell him to put the fingers underneath about one inch, 
and the thumb on top, to prevent them falling, and ask 
him to hold them tolerably firmly; at the same time give 
them a smart rap with your finger on top, and all the 
cards will fall to the floor, save the one chosen, which is 
facing him, and retained in the hand. 

The same result may be obtained by holding the cards 
with the fingers on the top and thumb under, the chosen 
card being on the top of the pack. This time you must 
strike the cards upwards. The cards will be scattered, 
but the chosen one will remain in the hand. 

To Catch Two Cards Thought of in the Air with 
the Hand. — This is a rather clever illusion, and very 
easy. After having placed the two chosen cards, one at 
the top and the other at the bottom of the pack, you hold 
the pack in your right hand, between the fingers and 
thumb, which have been previously moistened. You press 
the cards, make a movement upwards with the arm, and 
loosen the pressure with the fingers; this will at once 
release all the cards between the two chosen, and they 
are sent into the air; close the fingers and thumb, which 
now hold the two cards thought of, and make a dash with 
the hand as if to catch something amongst the released 
cards. In the confusion of cards, no one will notice that 



54 HERRMANN'S WIZARDS' MANUAL 

those chosen have never left the hand. The movement 
must, of course, be rapid. 

To Tell the Cards Thought of by Four Persons.— 
The pack having been shuffled, offer it to a person to 
select four cards from it; this being done, offer it to a 
second, third, and fourth person to select four each. Now 
request each person to select in his mind one card from 
the four he holds, and taking the several fours in your 
hands, face downwards, one heap upon the other, deal four 
out upon the table, face upwards, and upon these the next 
four. Continue in like manner until the sixteen cards 
are on the table again in four heaps. You ask the first 
person in which heap his card is, which having been 
pointed out, his card is the first or uppermost of the heap ; 
the second person's is the second card of the heap he points 
to, the third person's is the third of the group, and the 
fourth person's is found at the bottom of the heap. You 
could, of course, mention them as the several persons 
specify the heaps, but it is much better in all tricks to 
avoid giving any clew as to how you derive your infor- 
mation; therefore if you can do it, notice the cards, and 
pick up the heaps again, and dealing them out in rotation 
name the cards as they are exposed. It is quite possible 
that two, or even the four, by accident fall in the same 
heap ; this makes no difference — the first person's must 
be the first card, and the second person's the next, and so 
on. This trick can be done also with three, five, six, or 
seven persons ; the secret is merely to let each person have 
the same number of cards as there are people to choose — 
i. e.j if there are three persons, each must- have three cards, 
if five, then five cards — and proceed as indicated. 

Sixteen Cards being Placed upon a Table, to Guess 
the One Thought of. — Place the cards in two rows of 
eight each, as A and B, and request a person to think of 
one. For illustration, we will suppose he chooses number 
7 in row A. 



HERRMANN'S WIZARDS' MANUAL 55 



B CD E F H 



I 


9 


2 


IO 


3 


ii 


4 


12 


5 


13 


6 


14 


7* 


15 


8 


16 



C 


D 


E 


F 


i 


2 


i 


3 


3 


4 


5 


7* 


5 


6 


2 


4 


-7* 


8 


&C. 


&c. 


9 


IO 






ii 


12 






13 


14 






15 


16 







3 7* 
&c. &c. 



You can, therefore, in your mind, discard all the row 
B, but for effect keep them in use. It is as well in laying 
the cards to let 2 slightly overlap 1, and 3 2, &c, so as 
to gather them easily, by running one over the other, which 
retains the order. In this way pick up row A, and then 
row B, A being uppermost, face downwards. Now make 
two more rows, C, D, the first card under C, and the sec- 
ond under D, and so on; No. 7 will consequently come 
fourth in row C. Ask again in which row the card is. 
In C ; well, you know it must be one of the first four, for 
all the rest have been discarded. Pick up the cards as 
before, C uppermost, and make two more rows, E, F; 
this time No. 7 must come under F, and is of course either 
the first or second card. Pick up the cards, F row upper- 
most, and deal again H, J, and the card must be the first 
in the row selected. In our case No. 7 is first in row J. 
Do not point out the card upon the table, but pick up the 
pack and then point it out, or utilize it for some other trick. 
Remember to always deal the cards face upwards on the 
table, and after dealing C, D, you know the card is one 
of four, and it is better, therefore, not to always work 
towards the top of the rows to discover the card, but to 
keep the chosen cards in various positions. Until ac- 
quainted with the trick, follow the above directions, and 
your own ingenuity will teach you the variation. 

To Tell which Pair of Cards was Selected.— Deal 



56 HERRMANN'S WIZARDS' MANUAL 

out twenty cards in pairs, face upwards, upon the table, 
and request as many of the audience as please to select one 
or more of the pairs and remember their cards. Take 
up the cards in any order, being careful not to separate 
the pairs in doing so, and replace them, face upwards, upon 
the table in four rows of five cards each, and by placing 
them in proper order you can tell to a certainty which were 
the pairs selected by the various persons. 

To enable you to do this, you have merely to make a 
mental table of four words — mutus, nomen, dedit, cocis 
— which you will observe contain twenty letters — one 
for eacji card — but only ten distinct letters, t e. y two M's, 
two U's, &c, or one for each pair of cards. This is the 
key. The following represents the mental Table : — 

MUTUS 
NOMEN 
DEDIT 
COCIS 

The first card you place on the M in mutus, and the 
second of the same pair on the M in nomen; the third 
card on U, and the fourth card on the second U in first 
line ; the next, or fifth, card on T in mutus, and its com- 
panion on T in dedit; the seventh card finds its place on 
S of the first word, and its mate on the S in cocis. Having 
completed the first line, proceed with nomen in like man- 
ner, and likewise with dedit and cocis, until the imaginary 
Table is covered. Consequently, if the person says his 
cards are in the first and third rows, you know at once 
they must cover the T's, if in the first and last lines, then 
the S's are covered, and so on. A little practice is neces- 
sary to strengthen the memory, so as to place the pairs 
in their right places without hesitation. 

Twenty-five Cards being Placed upon the Table, 
to Mention which has been Thought of. — A per- 



HERRMANN'S WIZARDS' MANUAL 57 

former with an ordinary memory by this method may 
discover the cards thought of by several different per- 
sons, but for our purpose we will imagine only one per- 
son to have selected. Give the pack to be shuffled and 
cut so that no suspicion of arrangement may exist, and 
then deal out the cards in rows of five each, until twenty- 
five are upon the table, as follows : — 

A B C D E 

F G H I J 

K L M N O 

P Q R S T 

U V W X Y 

Now request one of the company to select a card, naming 
the row it is in, and to remember it. For illustration, 
we will imagine it is in the fourth row, and occupies the 
position of S. Glance upon the left-hand card of that 
row, which would be P (suppose, ace of hearts). Pick 
up the cards, commencing with Y, which place upon T, 
these two upon O, then upon J, E, X, S, &c, until all 
the cards are packed, A being bottom, face upwards. 
Turn the cards, and now deal them out again in the 
same way as before — which will be as under — 

A F K P U 

B G L Q V 

C H M R W 

D I N S X 

E J O T Y 

— and ask which row it is in now. " Fourth." Re- 
membering your left-hand card in previous arrangement 

— i. e., ace of hearts, or P — look upon the top row for 
that card, and follow that line down to the fourth row, 



58 HERRMANN'S WIZARDS' MANUAL 

which is S and the card selected. This can be performed 
with any square number, u e., 16, 25, 36, or 49 cards. 

The Four Kings Being Separated, to Bring Them 
Together by a Single Cut. — You select the four kings 
from a pack, and also two knaves. The kings you. ar- 
range in your hand in the shape of a fan, and place behind 
the second one, say the king of spades, the two knaves, 
therefore they are hidden from view. You show the cards 
by holding them towards the audience, so that they may 
be satisfied that the cards really are kings, and place them 
on top of the pack. You may remark, " Ladies and gen- 
tlemen, I propose to separate these kings; the first [which 
you hold towards them] I will place at the bottom of 
the pack, the second [which is a knave] I w r ill place a 
little higher up, the third [also knave] higher up still, 
and the fourth [which you again exhibit, for it is really 
a king] I will leave on top." The kings are now three 
on top, and one at the bottom of the pack; consequently, 
a single cut will bring them together. One of the com- 
pany can cut the cards, and the kings will be found to 
be in company. 

A Card having been Drawn from and Returned 
to the Pack, to Find it under a Handkerchief.— 
Allow 7 the pack to be shuffled, and, upon its being re- 
turned, invite a person to draw a card, which upon being 
returned to the pack, make the pass and bring it to the 
top, where you can leave it for the present, and borrow 
a handkerchief, which you place over the cards, and in- 
quire the name of the chosen card, which being given, 
put your hand under the handkerchief and take off the 
top card, which must be the one named. 

A more effective way of performing the same trick is, 
after the card has been chosen and returned, and you 
have brought it to the top by the pass, to palm it, and 
return the pack to be shuffled. The cards are then to 
be scattered under the handkerchief, so as to avoid any 



HERRMANN'S WIZARDS' MANUAL 59 

suspicion of arrangement. Upon the card being named, 
you place the hand with the palmed card in it amongst 
them, and draw the chosen card from the medley. 

To Tell Whether any Card in the Pack is Red or 
Black without Looking at it. — Before commencing 
this trick you secretly divide all the red from the black 
cards, and, holding them in one pack, you slightly bend 
them across the middle lengthways; then take all the 
black cards, and bend them also across the middle broad- 
ways, so that the red and black cards are both bent, but 
in different directions. Mix them thoroughly, and you 
can go through the pack and tell whether each card is 
red or black, by remembering which way they are bent. 
Or you can ask anyone to give you a card from the pack, 
and you can say with confidence, without looking at it, 
whether it is red or black. We have seen this same 
trick done in a drawing-room, by means of a reflector or 
mirror; this, however, is not a good system, for in cases 
of this kind, where cards are named without being di- 
rectly looked at, the audience at once look round for a 
mirror, and should one happen to be in front of the 
performer, the trick is no more interesting, as they put 
it down that you obtain your information through the 
mirror. Consequently, by having the cards bent, you 
can name them, if required, before holding them up for 
inspection and confirmation. 

To Name all the Cards in Succession. — Take up 
the pack of cards from the table, shuffle them, and ascer- 
tain what the bottom card is; place the pack behind your 
back, and reverse that card to the top, back to back with 
the remainder; show that card to the company, name it, 
and at the same time glance at the card now at the bottom 
of the pack, and which is facing you, together with the rest 
of the pack, except the one named, and which is facing 
the audience. Pass the pack again behind your back (or 
any other object so as to hide your maneuver), and move 



60 HERRMANN'S WIZARDS' MANUAL 

the card just looked at to the front, which, in its turn, 
is exposed to the audience, and name it, glancing, as be- 
fore, at the card facing yourself, which is next to be 
named. A judicious shuffle will relieve the monotony of 
this operation. By this means you can name all the cards 
in succession. 

To Make Two Cards Change Places whilst Held 
in Separate Hands. — Take two aces, the one of hearts, 
the other of clubs. From other cards cut out one of the 
figures of hearts and another the club, which must be 
done as neatly as possible, and merely the paper surface 
of the card used, which can be done by splitting the cut 
figures ; then rub on the backs of the heart and club some 
white pomatum, and place the club over the ace of hearts, 
and the heart over the ace of clubs, taking care that the 
under mark is completely covered. These preparations 
must be made before you begin. Now, with the two 
prepared aces in the pack, divide it so that one prepared 
ace may be at the bottom of each half. Show the cards 
to the audience, and explain that you have the ace of 
hearts in the right hand and the ace of clubs in the left. 
When everyone is satisfied on this point, you can either 
keep the cards in your hands or lay the packs on the table, 
with the faces downwards, at a distance of two teet from 
each other, in order that it is quite clear the hands or 
packs do not approach each othei. In the latter case, 
upon placing the cards upon the table, you would quietly 
put the third finger of each hand under the respective 
packs, and slip off the affixed mark, leaving the original 
mark. This done, you may remark, " Ladies and gentle- 
men, you are aware that the ace of hearts is in the right- 
hand pack, and the ace of clubs in the other; it is my 
intention to make them change places. Change! " Turn 
up the right-hand pack — there is now the ace of clubs at 
the bottom, and the ace of hearts is, of course, with the 
other. 



HERRMANN'S WIZARDS' MANUAL 61 

To Make Two Cards Change Places at the Word 

of Command. — Under various titles, this trick is con- 
stantly performed in public, and, strange as it may appear 
at first sight to even attempt to make two cards change 
places by word of command, yet it is easily done. You 
must in the first place have a pack in which there are dupli- 
cates of one card — say, two queens of hearts — and you 
must arrange these cards — a queen at the bottom, any 
other card next, which we will suppose is the four of 
clubs, and above that the second queen of hearts; or if 
you prefer to do so, the first queen may be placed at the 
top. You come forward shuffling the cards vigorously, 
taking care not to disturb the order of the three cards; 
and now you must leave the bottom queen of hearts on 
the top of the pack if you have had the three at the bot- 
tom for the convenience of shuffling; consequently, the 
cards are now placed: four of clubs at the bottom, one 
queen of hearts next above it, and the other on top of 
the pack. You now hold the pack towards the company, 
requesting them to notice particularly the bottom card, 
at which you also look, and mention that it is the four 
of clubs, which you wish someone to retain upon the 
table, here, with his hands. You forthwith lower the 
cards, and sliding back the four of clubs with the left- 
hand third finger, you draw out the card above it, which 
appears to the audience to be the bottom card, or the four 
of clubs, but is really the queen of hearts, and you place 
that card upon the table, of course face downwards, re- 
questing some person to put his hand upon it. 

You now make the pass, and bring the second queen 
of hearts to the bottom — i. e. f below the four of clubs — 
and again shuffling the cards, not disturbing the two, you 
once more show the bottom card to the company, and 
request them to notice it; you do likewise, observing that 
u it is the queen of hearts." You then go through the 
same performance as before; but this time you slip aside 



62 HERRMANN'S WIZARDS' MANUAL 

the queen, and draw out the next card, which is the four 
of clubs, but which the company believe to be the queen 
of hearts, and place that also on the table, face down- 
wards, and request someone else to keep it under his 
hand. Having called attention to the fact that the first 
card put on the table was the four of clubs, and the second 
one the queen of hearts, you now command the cards to 
change places, and when the gentlemen turn up their re- 
spective cards it will be found that the one who was sup- 
posed to hold the four of clubs has the' queen of hearts, 
and vice versa. 

The Triple Deal. — Take any twenty-one cards, and 
ask some person to choose one from them. Lay them 
out in three heaps, and ask the person who took the card 
in which heap it is. You may turn your back while he 
searches. Gather them up and put that heap between the 
other two. Do this twice more, and the chosen card will 
always be the eleventh from the top. 

The Card Found at the Second Guess. — Offer the 
cards to anyone, and let him draw one. You then hold 
the cards behind your back, and tell him to place his 
card on the top. Pretend to make a great shuffling, but 
only turn that card with its back to the others, still 
keeping it at the top. Then hold up the cards with their 
faces towards the spectator, and ask him if the bottom 
card is his. While doing so, you inspect his card at your 
leisure. He of course denies it, and you begin shuffling 
again furiously. " Let me do that," he will probably 
say; so, as you are perfectly acquainted with his card, 
you let him shuffle as much as he likes, and then, when 
you get the cards back again, shuffle until his card is at 
the bottom. Then pass them behind your back, make a 
ruffling noise with them, and show him his own card at 
the bottom. 

The Card Found Under the Hat. — Have a needle 
stuck just inside your sleeve. Hand the cards as in the 



HERRMANN'S WIZARDS' MANUAL 63 

preceding trick, and tell the taker to put the card on the 
top. Take out the needle, and prick a hole nearly through 
the top left-hand corner. Replace the needle, shuffle the 
cards, or let anyone shuffle them. Place the pack on the 
table, cover them with a hat, and the marked card will 
be known by a little raised knob on the right-hand top 
corner. Draw out card by card, saying whether it is 
that card or not, until you come to the marked one, which 
you throw on the table carelessly, and when you are about 
taking out another card, stop suddenly, and pretend to 
find, by some magic process, that it is the chosen card. 

The Revolution. — Another neat way of finishing a 
trick is as follows: Get the card to the top of the pack; 
and taking care that all the cards are even, drop the pack 
on the floor, taking care just as you let go, to slip the 
top card a little off the rest of the pack. In falling, the 
resistance of the air will turn the card over, and it will 
rest with its face upwards on the top of the pack. 

The Nailed Card. — Take a flat-headed nail, and file 
it down until its point is as sharp as a needle, and the 
head quite flat. The nail should be about half an inch 
long, or even shorter if anything. Pass the nail through 
the center of any card, say the ace of spades, and conceal 
it in your left hand. 

Take another pack of cards, get the ace of spades to 
the bottom, and exchange the pierced card for the other. 
Put the pierced card at the bottom of the pack, and throw 
the cards violently against a door, when the nail will be 
driven in by the pressure of the other cards against its 
head, and the chosen card will be seen nailed to the door. 
The nail should be put through the face of the card, so 
that when the others fall on the floor, it remains facing 
the spectators. 

To Make a Card Jump Out of the Pack and Run 
on the Table. — Take a pack of cards, and let anyone 
draw any card he pleases; put it into the pack, so that 



64 HERRMANN'S WIZARDS' MANUAL 

you may know where to find it at pleasure. Put a small 
piece of wax under your thumb-nail, to which fasten a 
hair, and the other end of the hair to the card; spread 
the cards open on the table, and desire the one chosen 
to jump out, which you may readily cause it to do by 
means of the hair. 

The Trick of Thirty-one. — This is played with the 
first six cards of each suit — the aces in one row, the 
deuces in another, the threes in another; then the fours, 
fives and sixes — all laid in rows. The object now will 
be to turn down cards alternately, and endeavor to make 
thirty-one points by so turning, or as near to it as pos- 
sible, without overrunning it; and the man who turns 
down a card, the spots of which make him thirty-one, or 
so near it that the other cannot turn down one without 
overrunning it, wins. This trick is very deceiving, as 
all other tricks are, and requires much practice to be well 
understood. 

The chief point of this celebrated trick is to count so 
as to end with the following numbers, viz., 3, 10, 17 
or 24. For example we will suppose it your privilege 
to commence the count: you would commence with 3, 
and your adversary would add 6, which would make 
9; it would then be your policy to add 1, and make 10; 
then, no matter what number he adds, he cannot prevent 
you counting 17, which number gives you the command of 
the trick. We will suppose he add 6, and make 16; then, 
you add 1, and make 17, then he to add 6, and make 23, 
you add 1, and make 24, then he cannot possibly add any 
number to count 31, as the highest number he can add 
is 6, which would only count 30, so that you can easily 
add the remaining 1, or ace, and make 31. There are, 
however, many variations to the trick. 

The Changing Ladle. — This is a piece of apparatus 
designed for secretly obtaining possession of a chosen 
card or piece of writing. The bowl, so to speak, of the 



HERRMANN'S WIZARDS' MANUAL 65 

ladle is in the form of a segment of a cylinder (see Fig. 
23), the size of its opening being about four inches by- 
two and a half, and its depth three inches. It is made 
of tin, with a thin, cylindrical handle. The edges of the 
bowl are turned inwards all round to the extent of about 
a sixteenth of ah inch, thereby serving to disguise a 
movable slab of tin, a, which moves backwards and for- 
wards like the leaf of a book within the ladle, working 




Fig. 23. 



Fig. 25. 



Fig. 24. 



upon a hinge at its lower edge. This is made to work 
backwards and forwards by a w T ire rod passing through 
the whole length of the handle and terminating in a 
little knob or cap at its outer end. The normal position 
of a is to lie against the inner or handle side of the bowl 
(see Fig. 24), being retained in that position by the oper- 
ation of a spiral spring in the handle, w T hich draws the 
wire back. If, however, pressure be applied to the knob 
or cap at the end of the handle, the wire is forced down- 
wards, thereby bringing the movable leaf a against the 
outer side of the bowl, as shown in Fig. 25. 

There are various modes in which the changing ladle 
may be made useful. For example, it may be used to 
burn and restore a card. For this purpose, the ladle is 



66 HERRMANN'S WIZARDS' MANUAL 

prepared by placing in it beforehand any indifferent card 
of similar pattern to the pack in use, and is in this con- 
dition placed on the performer's table, in such manner 
that the spectators may not observe that there is already 
a card in it. The performer then comes forward and 
hands to one of the company a pack of cards, with a re- 
quest that he will select any one he pleases. While he is 
making his selection, the performer or his assistant places 
on the table and sets fire to some spirits of wine on a 
bowl or plate. A card having been chosen, the performer 
requests the drawer to return it to him, and, in order to 
preclude the apparent possibility of any exchange or 
sleight-of-hand, volunteers to receive it at arm's length 
in the ladle, which he brings forward for that purpose, 
holding it by the extreme end of the handle, and pressing 
with his palm the knob at the top, thereby bringing the 
movable leaf into the position shown in Fig. 25, with the 
card already in it pressed flat against the outer side of 
the bowl, and thus completely hidden. The chosen card 
being placed in the ladle, the performer, in returning to 
his table, relaxes the pressure of his palm, thereby bring- 
ing the movable leaf back into the position of Fig. 24, 
releasing the dummy card, and concealing that chosen 
against the inner side of the bowl. He then drops ap- 
parently the chosen, but really the substitute, card into 
the flames, taking care as he does so not to turn the face 
of the card toward the audience. The ladle, with the 
genuine card in it, is carried off by the assistant as having 
served its purpose, and the chosen card is subsequently 
restored after any fashion which the fancy of the operator 
may dictate. 

The ladle may also be used to apparently burn and 
restore a paper on which one of the company has written 
any words or figures. In this case a blank half-sheet of 
note-paper, folded in four, is beforehand placed in the 
ladle, and a piece of paper folded in the same way is 



HERRMANN'S WIZARDS' MANUAL 67 

handed to one of the audience, with a request that he will 
write what he pleases upon it, again fold it, and place it 
in the ladle. It is then either apparently burned (as in 
the case of the card) or placed in some other apparatus, 
the operator making a great point of the fact that he does 
not touch the paper. As the genuine paper remains in 
the ladle, it is, of course, very easy for the performer to 
ascertain what is written upon it, and having displayed 
his knowledge, to ultimately reproduce the paper under 
any circumstances which he thinks fit. Sometimes the 
trick is varied by requesting a spectator to write a ques- 
tion upon the paper, which is subsequently reproduced 
with an appropriate answer written beneath the question. 



MISCELLANEOUS TRICKS 

To Tell the Numbers on a Pair of Dice. — This 
is done by a simple arithmetical process. 

Ask someone to throw the dice without your seeing 
them,* 'then tell him to choose one of the numbers and 
multiply by two, add five and multiply this number by 
five and add the number on the remaining dice. 

On his telling you the result you subtract mentally 
twenty-five from the number he has obtained and the 
remainder will be two figures representing the two num- 
bers on the dice. 

Suppose the numbers thrown to be six, three. Six 
multiplied by two would be twelve — with five added 
make seventeen, multiplied by five is eighty-five, with 
three added make eighty-eight; from this take twenty-five 
and it gives as a result sixty- three — six, three, being 
the numbers thrown. This can be worked with the same 
result if the person throwing the dice multiplies the three 
instead of the six, the result in that case being thirty-six 
instead of sixty-three. 

To Change the Numbers on Dice. — Take an ordi- 
nary pair of dice and hold them in such a manner between 
the thumb and finger that the numbers visible to the audi- 
ence are three, one, the three being the upper number. 
Ask one of the audience to tell the numbers, stating plainly 
which is the top one. This being done you state that by 
rubbing your fingers over them you cause them to change 
places by simply passing your finger over them. 

In bringing your hands together you turn the dice 
quarter way round. This will bring the next side of 

68 



HERRMANN'S WIZARDS' MANUAL 69 

the dice toward the audience and the numbers will read 
one, three, instead of three, one, as before. This can 
be varied by again rubbing them with your finger. You 
can show the third side which will read six, four; and 
repeating the motion you show the fourth side which 
will be four, six. These numbers may be varied, but 
care must always be taken to have similar numbers on 
two adjoining sides. 

Houdin's Nut Trick. — The professor hands the 
audience a dessert plate and a cambric handkerchief for 
examination; these being returned, he places the plate 
upon a table near to him ; the handkerchief is then spread 
out quite flat over the plate. At command, sugared al- 
monds, nuts, and comfits pour into the dessert plate the 
instant the kerchief is lifted up. The way in which it 
is done is this: Make a calico bag large enough to hold 
the nuts and sweetmeats you intend to distribute, to 
the pattern of the letter A; a small selvage is turned 
up at the bottom of the bag; procure two pieces of watch 
spring, and bend them quite flat, each spring to be 
exactly half the diameter of the bag. These are put into 
the selvage, and sewn up firm. When the bag is opened, 
it will close itself in consequence of the springs. A long 
pin is passed through the top of the bag and bent round 
hook-shape. If the bag be now filled with nuts, etc., it 
may be suspended by the hook, without any danger of the 
nuts or anything else falling out; because, although the 
mouth of the bag is downwards, the springs keep it shut. 
When this trick is to be shown, the prepared bag is hung 
on the side of the table that is away from the audience. 
The plate is also placed on that side; and when the hand- 
kerchief is laid over the plate a portion is left to fall over 
the side of the table. Now the kerchief is picked up with 
the right hand in the center (just as a lady does when she 
wishes to exhibit the lace edge), and with it the bag of 
nuts; the folds of the cambric hide the bag. The left 



70 HERRMANN'S WIZARDS' MANUAL 

hand is now used to draw over the handkerchief and to 
press the bag; this causes the springs to open, and out fall 
the " good things " upon the plate. 

The Magic Bran Glass. — A glass of bran instantly 
changed into a glassful of sweets, or various other arti- 
cles. The performer brings forward a glass of bran, 
and to prove it to be such scatters some on to the floor. 
A cover, that has been examined, is then placed over the 
goblet; and on its being removed the bran is nowhere 
to be seen, the glass being full of sweets, nuts, etc., which 
are readily demolished by the youngsters, utterly regard- 
less of the air of mystery which hangs about their magic 
appearance. 

A hollow tin shape is made to fit inside the glass, which 
is generally a goblet, large or small, according to whether 
for drawing-room or stage use. The tin shape is open 
at the bottom only, and outside bran is glued on, so that 
when placed in the goblet it appears like a glass full of 
bran. The hollow of the tin shape is first filled with 
sweets, some borrowed article, etc., and then placed in the 
glass. A cover (generally made of brass) with the sides 
tapering outwards is made to go over the goblet, and 
when pressed down hard the rim of the bran shape be- 
comes jammed, so that on the cover being raised the 
shape rises also, unseen, and the sweets or other articles 
are left in the glass. Some loose bran is always heaped 
on to the top of the tin shape when commencing, and 
blown on to the floor to disarm suspicion. 

The Oriental Ball Trick. — Procure three balls of 
wood, the size of billiard balls, each having a small hole 
drilled completely through it, the hole the size of an 
ordinary black-lead pencil. 

Procure, also, two pieces of white tape, each ten feet 
long. Double each tape exactly in half, so that they be- 
come only five feet long. Insert the folded end into one 
of the balls; pull it through about an inch; then open 



HERRMANN'S WIZARDS' MANUAL 73 

chief. — Procure four or five large plumes. Take off 
your coat, and lay the plumes along your arms, the stem 
being toward your hand. Now put on your coat again, 
and the feathers will lie quite smoothly and unsuspected. 
Wave a handkerchief about to show that it is empty. 
Throw it over your left hand, and with the right draw 
put one of the plumes from up the coat-sleeve, at the 
same time giving it a flourish in the air, which will 
loosen all the fibers of the feather, and make it appear 
much too large to have been concealed about the person. 
Wave the handkerchief again, and repeat the operation 
until all the plumes are gone. You can carry enough 
plumes under the sleeve to cover a table, and if you 
prepare a board full of holes, or an ornamental vase, you 
can place the plumes upright as you take them out. 

Additional plumes, fastened together by a thread, can 
be carried inside the trousers and waistcoat, with the 
stems just within the breast of the latter. 

The Bran Plate. — This apparatus is designed for 
the production of a dove or other fairly large object. 

The apparatus consists of two earthenware plates, of 
about soup-plate size. The one, when brought forward, 
is filled with heaped-up bran; the other, inverted, is 
placed on it by way of cover. When it is again re- 
moved a moment later, the bran has vanished, and in its 
place appears the dove or other object which it is desired 
to produce. 

The secret lies in the fact that the supposed heap of 
bran is in fact a tin cover, with bran glued thereon, and 
with a shallow depression in the center to hold loose 
bran, of w T hich the performer takes a handful, and lets 
it fall through his fingers to prove its genuineness. This 
cover is so modeled that its convex side shall exactly 
adapt itself to the interior of either of the earthenware 
plates, while its concave side is japanned so as to match 
in pattern with them. 



74 HERRMANN'S WIZARDS' MANUAL 



The working of the trick will now be clear. The ob- 
ject to be produced is placed in one of the earthenware 
plates, the cover placed over it, and the hollow in the 
center filled with loose bran. When it is desired to pro- 
duce the concealed article, the second earthenware plate 
is turned down over the tin cover. The plates are waved 
about for a moment or two, and in replacing them on 
the table, turned over, so that the one containing the 
cover is now undermost. The one now uppermost is 
lifted off, and left carelessly in the way of examination. 
The bran has vanished, and there, in the second plate, is 
the article to be revealed. 

The Vanishing Tumbler of Water. — Provide your- 
self with a prepared handkerchief. You have two fancy 
cotton handkerchiefs of the same pattern, which are 

stitched together round the 
edges, thus appearing to be 
one handkerchief, and are 
also stitched from two of 
the corners to a point about 
two inches beyond the cen- 
ter, thus forming a tri- 
angular bag (Fig. 26, a, b, 
c). These two corners 
should have marks peculiar 
to themselves, so that you 
may readily find them 
without looking. Inside 
the triangular bag you 
place a brass ring, the 
diameter of which is just a shade larger than that of an 
ordinary tumbler. This ring is not fastened in any way, 
but by holding the corners a and b, it falls to the center of 
the handkerchief (c) ; but if the handkerchief is held in 
any other way the ring changes its position. 

You require a pretty wide glass, which must have per- 




Fig. 26. 



HERRMANN'S WIZARDS' MANUAL 75 

fectly straight sides, and must be fitted with an outside 
shell, also of glass, sufficiently large to allow your hand 
to pass through it, it being merely a glass tube without 
either top or bottom, but in other respects resembling the 
companion glass to such a degree that when it is over the 
glass, no difference can be detected. Placing this shell 
over the glass you advance with them in your hand, ob- 
serving that you have a common glass, which you will 
partly fill with water, and suit the action to the word, 
filling it about two-thirds or a little more. Then placing 
it upon the table near the back, you take the handker- 
chief, and having sent the ring to one of the corners, 
draw the handkerchief through the hand, to casually show 
that it contains nothing; but do not say a word on the 
subject until you have the corners a, b, in your hands, 
when you shake it out and show both sides — this will 
cause the ring to go to the center of the handkerchief, 
when you throw it over the glass upon the table, bringing 
the ring above the glass. Now, standing behind the 
table, with one hand grasp the shell through the hand- 
kerchief, and, putting the other hand underneath, raise 
the shell from the glass, whilst the other hand lowers the 
glass, with the water, to the servant e. You now ad- 
vance to the audience, still holding the shell through the 
handkerchief, and can show beyond doubt that the glass 
is there by " flipping " it with the fingers, or even allow- 
ing the audience to feel for themselves. You inform 
them that you are about to make the glass disappear, and 
retire a little further back upon the stage. 

Supposing you are holding the shell in the right hand, 
you place the left under the handkerchief as though to 
hold it, which you do for a moment in order to allow 
the right hand to change its position, and take hold of 
the wire ring and the shell from the top, and as you 
do so you squeeze with the left hand a wet sponge which 
you took from the servante; as the water falls it will 



76 HERRMANN'S WIZARDS' MANUAL 



give the impression that it has come from the glass under 
the handkerchief. Having altered the position of the 
right hand, so as to hold the ring, you thrust the left 
hand through the shell and let it pass up your arm be- 
tween the shirt and the coat sleeve. Now withdrawing 

the left hand from under, 
the appearance is still that 
the glass is there, on account 
of the form of the ring (Fig. 
27). You take hold of one 
of the corners of the hand- 
kerchief, and announce that 
.you are now going to make 
the glass of water disappear. 
Then, counting, " One, two, 
three — pass ! " you make a 
vigorous shake w T ith the 
handkerchief, releasing your 
hold with the right hand, 
and the glass has disap- 
peared. You show both 
sides of the handkerchief as before, but there is no trace 
of it to be found. You will probably have to retire a 
moment to get the shell from your left arm, but there 
is no fear of its falling provided you keep the wrist 
bent. 

To Knock a Tumbler Through a Table.— Take an 
ordinary tumbler and a newspaper. Sit on a chair 
behind the table, keeping the audience in front of it. 
Place the tumbler on the table and cover it with the 
newspaper, pressing the paper closely round, so that it 
gradual^ becomes fashioned to the form of the glass. 
Then draw the paper to the edge of the table, and drop 
the tumbler into your lap — quickly returning the paper 
to the center of the table; the stiffness of the paper will 
still preserve the form of the tumbler; hold the form 




Fig. 27. 



HERRMANN'S WIZARDS' MANUAL 77 

with one hand, and strike a heavy blow upon it with the 
other; at the same moment drop the tumbler from the 
lap to the floor; and you will appear to have positively 
knocked the tumbler through the solid table. Care 
should be taken after the tumbler is in the lap, to place 
the legs in such a fashion that the glass may slide grad- 
ually toward the ankles, so that the fall may not be 
sufficiently great to break the glass. Care should be also 
taken to smooth out the paper after the blow has been 
struck, to prevent suspicion of the fact that the form 
of the glass was simply preserved by the stiffness of the 
paper. Never repeat this illusion. 

To Place Water in a Drinking-glass Upside 
Down. — Procure a plate, a tumbler, and a small piece 
of tissue or silver paper. Set the plate on a table, and 
pour water in it up to the first rim. Now, very slightly 
crumple up the paper, and place it in the glass; then 
set it on fire. When it is burnt out, or rather just as 
the last flame disappears, turn the glass quickly upside 
down into the water. Astonishing! the water rushes 
with great violence into the glass! Now you are satis- 
fied that water can be placed in a drinking-glass upside 
down. Hold the glass firm, and the plate also. You 
can now reverse the position of the plate and glass. In- 
stead of burning paper, a little brandy or spirits of wine 
can be ignited in the glass; the result of its combustion 
being invisible, the experiment is cleaner. 

The Protean Liquid. — A red liquor, which w^hen 
poured into different glasses will become yellow, blue, 
black, and violet, may be thus made : Infuse a few shav- 
ings of logwood in common water, and when the liquor 
is red, pour it into a bottle; then take three drinking- 
glasses, rinse one of them with strong vinegar, throw 
into the second a small quantity of pounded alum, which 
will not be observed if the glass has been newly washed, 
and leave the third without any preparation. If the red 



78 HERRMANN'S WIZARDS' MANUAL 

liquor in the bottle be poured into the first glass, it will 
assume a straw-color; if into the second, it will pass 
gradually from bluish-gray to black, provided it be stirred 
with a bit of iron, which has been privately immersed in 
good vinegar ; in the third glass the red liquor will as- 
sume a violet tint. 

To Bring Colored Ribbons from Your Mouth. — 
Heap a quantity of finely carded wool upon a plate, 
which place before you. At the bottom of this lint, and 
concealed from the company, you should have several 
narrow strips of colored ribbons wound tightly into one 
roll, so as to occupy but little space. Now begin to 
appear to eat the lint by putting a handful in your 
mouth. The first handful can easify be removed and 
returned to the plate, unobserved, while the second is 
being " crammed in." In doing this care should be 
taken not to use all the lint, but to leave sufficient to 
conceal the roll. At the last handful, take up the roll 
and push it into your mouth, without any lint; then ap- 
pear to have had enough, and look in a very distressed 
state as if you were full to suffocation; then put your 
hands up to your mouth, get hold of the end of the rib- 
bon, and draw hand over hand, yards of ribbon, as if 
from your stomach. The slower this is done, the better 
the effect. When one ribbon is off the roll, your tongue 
will assist you in pushing another end ready for the hand, 
You will find you need not wet or damage the ribbons ir, 
the least. 

An Egg Put into a Phial. — To accomplish this seem- 
ingly incredible act, requires the following preparation: 
You must take an egg and soak it in strong vinegar ; and 
in process of time its shell will become quite soft, so 
that it may be extended lengthways without breaking; 
then insert it into the neck of a small bottle, and by 
pouring cold water upon it, it will reassume its former 
figure and hardness. This is really a complete curiosity, 



HERRMANN'S WIZARDS' MANUAL 79 

and baffles those who are not in the secret to find out 
how it is accomplished. If the vinegar used to saturate 
the egg is not sufficiently strong to produce the required 
softness of shell, add one teaspoonful of strong acetic 
acid to every two tablespoonfuls of vinegar. This will 
render the egg perfectly flexible, and of easy insertion 
into the bottle, which must then be filled with cold 
water. 

To Keep the Hand Dry in Water. — With some 
lycopodium, powder the surface of a large or small vessel 
of water; you may then challenge anyone to drop a piece 
of money into the water, and that you will get it with 
the hand without wetting your skin. The lycopodium 
adheres to the hand, and prevents its contact with the 
water. A little shake of the hand, after the feat is over, 
will dislodge the powder. 

Sympathetic Inks.— By means of these, we may 
carry on a correspondence which is beyond the discovery 
of all not in the secret. With one class of these inks, the 
writing becomes visible only when moistened with a par- 
ticular solution. Thus, if we write to you with a solu- 
tion of sulphate of iron, the letters are invisible. On 
the receipt of our letter, you rub over the sheet a sponge 
wet with a solution of nut-galls, and the letters burst 
forth into sensible being at once, and are permanent. 

2. If we write with a solution of sugar of lead, and 
you moisten with a sponge or pencil dipped in water im- 
pregnated with sulphuretted hydrogen, the letters will 
appear with metallic brilliancy. 

3. If we write with a weak solution of sulphate of 
copper, and you apply ammonia, the letters assume a beau- 
tiful blue. When the ammonia evaporates, as it does 
on exposure to the sun or fire, the writing disappears, 
but may be revived again as before. 

4. If you write with oil of vitriol very much diluted, 
so as to prevent its destroying the paper, the manuscript 



80 HERRMANN'S WIZARDS' MANUAL 

will be invisible except when held to the fire, when the 
letters will appear black. 

5. Write with cobalt dissolved in diluted muriatic 
acid; the letters will be invisible when cold, but when 
warmed they will appear a bluish green. 

We are almost sure that our secrets thus written will 
not be brought to the knowledge of a stranger, because he 
does not know the solution which was used in writing and 
therefore knows not what to apply to bring out the 
letters. 

To Make a Ring Pass through a Table. — For 
this trick you borrow a ring from the audience, and have 
a handkerchief with a substitute ring attached to the 
middle of it by a thread about five inches long. Hand- 
kerchiefs with things concealed in them in this manner 
should be folded in such a fashion that, when they are 
upon the table, the performer can take hold of them by 
a corner, and at once shake them out, the suspended arti- 
cle being on his side. You also require a tumbler and a 
bowl. You ask a person to hold the tumbler; then, 
taking up and shaking the handkerchief, take the bor- 
rowed ring in the right hand, and putting the hand be- 
neath the handkerchief, palm the ring, and take hold of 
the substitute, and passing it up to the handkerchief, 
you take hold of it through the handkerchief w T ith the 
left hand. Now put the hand above the glass, allowing 
the sides of the handkerchief to hang over the glass, 
which the person holds in his left hand, and request him 
to take hold of the ring and handkerchief with the right. 
After he has asserted that he holds the ring, you request 
him to let it fall into the glass ; and this it is heard to do. 
You now ask him to put the glass, ring, and handker- 
chief, upon the table as they now are. Now, taking the 
bowl in the right hand (which hand "contains the ring), 
you show that the bowl is quite empty, and placing it 
beneath the table, and under the glass, you slip the bor- 



HERRMANN'S WIZARDS' MANUAL 81 

rowed ring into it. You now announce that your inten- 
tion is to pass the ring from the glass into the bowl, 
through the table, but first of all you will satisfy them 
that the ring is still in the glass, which you take up and 
shake; the suspended ring will then make itself heard. 
Now take the handkerchief by the middle, between the 
thumb and finger, command the ring to leave the glass at 
the word " Three," and count "one, two, three!" and 
at the same time raise the handkerchief straight above the 
glass, thus withdrawing the substitute ring, and the 
tumbler is found to be empty; and upon the person tak- 
ing the bowl from beneath the table, the ring is found 
to be there, thus having obeyed your command. 

To Pass a Ring through a Pocket-handkerchief. — 
This is performed by the aid of a piece of wire, sharpened 
to a point at each end, and bent into the form of a ring. 
The performer, having this palmed in his right hand, 
borrows a wedding-ring and a handkerchief (silk for 
preference). Holding the borrowed ring between the 
fingers of his right hand, he throws the handkerchief 
over it, and immediately seizes with the left hand, through 
the handkerchief, apparently the borrowed ring, but really 
the sham ring, which he adroitly substitutes. He now 
requests one of the spectators to take hold of the ring 
in like manner, taking care to make him hold it in such 
a way that he may not be able to feel the opening be- 
tween the points, which would betray the secret. The 
ring being thus held, and the handkerchief hanging down 
around it, a second spectator is requested, for greater 
security, to tie a piece of tape or string tightly round 
the handkerchief an inch or two below the ring. The 
performer then takes the handkerchief into his own hand, 
and, throwing the loose part of the handkerchief over his 
right hand, so as to conceal his mode of operation, slightly 
straightens the sham ring, and works one of the points 
through the handkerchief, so getting it out, and rubbing 



82 HERRMANN'S WIZARDS' MANUAL 

the handkerchief with his finger and thumb in order to 
obliterate the hole made by the wire in its passage. He 
now palms the sham ring, and produces the real one, 
which has all along remained in his right hand, request- 
ing the person who tied the knot to ascertain for himself 
that it has not been tampered with. 

To Pass a Borrowed Ring into an Egg. — This is 
an effective conclusion to a ring trick. The necessary 
apparatus consists of two wooden egg-cups, inside one 
of which, at the bottom, is cut a mortice or slot just 
large enough to receive one-half the circumference of a 
lady's ring, and to hold it in an upright position. The 
second egg-cup has no specialty, being, in fact, merely a 
dummy, designed to be handed to the audience for inspec- 
tion. An ordinary button-hook, or a piece of wire bent 
into the shape of a button-hook, completes the preparations. 

We will assume that the performer has secretly ob- 
tained possession of a borrowed ring, which the audience 
believe to remain in some place or apparatus in which 
they have seen it deposited. The operator, retiring for 
an instant, returns with a plate of eggs in one hand, and 
the dummy egg-cup in the other. The special egg-cup, 
with the ring already in the mortice, is meanwhile placed 
either under his waistband, or in one or other of his 
pochettes, so as to be instantly get-at-able when required. 
Placing the eggs on the table, he hands round the egg- 
cup for inspection, that all may observe that it is wholly 
without preparation, and in turning to place the egg-cup 
on the table, he substitutes for it the one which contains 
the ring, but which the audience naturally believe to be 
that which they have just examined. 

Bringing forward the plate of eggs, the performer re- 
quests the company to choose whichever they please. 
While they are making their selection, he carefully turns 
back his sleeves, showing indirectly that his hands are 
empty. Taking the chosen egg with the tips of his fin- 



HERRMANN'S WIZARDS' MANUAL 83 

gers, and showing it on all sides, to prove that there is 
no preparation about it, he says, " Now, ladies and gen- 
tlemen, you have seen me place the ring which this lady 
has kindly lent me in ' so-and-so ' (according to the 
place where it is supposed to be). "You have selected, 
of your own free choice, this particular egg among half-a- 
dozen others. I am about to command the ring to leave 
the place where it now is, and to pass into the very center 
of this egg. If you think the egg is prepared in any 
way, it is open to you even now to choose another. You 
are all satisfied that the egg has not been tampered with ? 
Well, then, just observe still that I have nothing in my 
hands. I have merely to say, ' One, two, three! Pass! ' 
The ring is now in the egg." At the word, " Pass," 
the performer taps one end of theegg with his wand, just 
hard enough to crack it slightly. " Dear me," he says; 
" I did not intend to hit quite so hard; but it is of no 
consequence.' ' Stepping to the table, he places the egg, 
with the cracked end downwards y in the prepared egg-cup, 
using just sufficient pressure to force the egg well down 
upon the ring, the projecting portion of which is thereby 
forced into the egg. The egg being already cracked, a 
very slight pressure is sufficient. Bringing forward the 
egg in the cup, the hook already mentioned, and a table- 
napkin, he taps the top of the egg smartly with his wand, 
so as to crack it, and, offering the hook to the owner of 
the ring, requests her to see whether her property is not 
in the egg. The ring is immediately fished out, and 
being wiped upon the napkin, is recognized as that which 
was borrowed. The apparatus in which it was originally 
placed is, on being examined, found empty. 

To Produce a Cannon Ball from a Hat. — You 
borrow a hat, and on taking it into your hands you ask 
a number of questions about it, or say it would be a pity 
for you to spoil so nice a hat, or make some such remark. 
This, however, is only a ruse for the purpose of divert- 



84 HERRMANN'S WIZARDS' MANUAL 

ing attention. Then, passing round to the back of your 
table — (where, by the way, you have arranged on pegs 
a large wooden " cannon ball," or a cabbage, or a bundle 
of dolls, trinkets, etc., loosely tied together, so that they 
may be easily disengaged) — you wipe, in passing, one 
or other of these articles off the pegs — where they must 
be very slightly suspended — into the hat so rapidly as 
not to be observed. 

Returning to the gentleman from whom you received 
the hat, you say to him: " You are aware, sir, that your 
hat was not empty when you gave it to me," at the same 
time emptying the contents in front of the audience. 
Supposing you have, in the first instance, introduced the 
dolls and trinkets, you may repeat the trick by wiping 
the " cannon ball," or one of the other articles into the 
hat, and again advancing towards the gentleman from 
whom you received it, say: "Here is your hat; thank 
you, sir." Then, just as you are about to give it to 
him, say: " Bless me! what have we here? "and turn- 
ing the hat upside down, the large cannon ball will fall 
out. 

To Hatch Chickens in a Hat. — Obtain, in the first 
place, a blown egg and three or four small chickens, also 
some broken egg-shells in irregular halves. The chickens 
should be put together in a small bag made of black 
alpaca, and the egg-shells also: it is surprising into what 
a small space the chickens can be packed without being 
hurt. You put the bag with the chickens into the tail 
pocket, and then borrow a hat, which you place upon 
the table, mouth upwards. You have now to produce a 
similar number of eggs to the number of chickens you 
have in the bag, and this you can do in two ways. The 
first is to palm one, and then appear to produce one from 
one of the audience, another from the seat of a chair, a 
third from your wand, and a fourth from the foot of 
your pants, apparently transferring them to the hat as 



HERRMANN'S WIZARDS' MANUAL 85 

you find them. The other way is to use the egg hand- 
kerchief, with one blown egg suspended by a thread from 
the top, and to appear to drop the eggs into the hat from 
it in the manner suggested. 

In either of these cases you have the opportunity of 
putting the chickens into the hat. Having progressed 
so far that the chickens are in the hat, and eggs supposed 
to be there, you announce that you are going to hatch 
chickens from the eggs, and the hat shall be the incu- 
bator. You want heat, and call for a candle ; then cover 
the mouth of the hat with a borrowed handkerchief, and 
hold the hat above the candle flame at such a distance 
that it will not be damaged. Having held it for a few 
moments in this position, you think the chickens must be 
hatched, remove the handkerchief, and returning to the 
table put the hat down. You now put in your hand and 
draw out by the legs first one chick, then another, also 
a third and a fourth, and pass to the assistant to take 
care of. You show that the chickens are alive, and then 
taking up the hat, you are about to return it to the owner, 
when you suddenly check yourself, observing, " I beg 
your pardon; but having taken out the chickens, I quite 
forgot about the eggs from which they were hatched — 
allow me to remove them." You accordingly throw them 
to the back of the stage, or put them upon a plate. The 
addition of the empty egg-shells gives quite a natural 
finish to a good trick, and has considerable effect with 
the audience. 

To Restore a Crushed Hat. — This is a capital ter- 
mination to a hat trick. You must, however, have a 
confederate in the audience who has another hat under 
his seat as well as his own, and when you ask for the 
loan of a hat for one of the tricks, this confederate gives 
you the old one. Having performed the trick for which 
it was ostensibly borrowed, you give it to your assistant 
to return to the lender, and as he is moving along the 



86 HERRMANN'S WIZARDS' MANUAL 

stage he trips over something and falls, crushing the hat 
under him. You have a few words with your assistant, 
and then express your regret to the lender, but still hope 
he will be able to wear it, but he refuses to take it; you 
therefore say you will wrap it up for him in as small a 
parcel as possible, and proceed to tear it up into pieces. 
Now take your pistol, put the pieces into the funnel, and 
then fire it at the lender, which being done you tell him 
to look under his chair, where he will find his hat restored. 
He puts his hand under the chair and affects surprise to 
find his hat so well restored. 

To Tie a Person in a Sack, from which He Gets 
Out without Cutting it or Breaking the Seal which 
Secures the String. — This trick is a very good one for 
the stage. A sound sack is handed round for examina- 
tion, and upon its being returned your assistant gets into 
it; the mouth is gathered together, securely tied with 
strong cord, and sealed. It is then carried behind a screen, 
with the person in it. In a few moments afterwards the 
assistant comes from behind the screen, carrying the bag 
with him, when it is found that the seal has not been 
broken, nor have the knots been tampered with. The 
question is, " How did he get out? " The secret is that 
there are two sacks. One is brought forward and exam- 
ined by the audience, who pronounce it to be quite sound ; 
the second is secreted up the back of the assistant's coat. 
The first sack being returned, he is requested to get into 
it, the mouth being held open for that purpose by some 
of the audience, who have been requested to come upon 
the stage to see that everything is done properly. As 
the assistant gets into the sack he takes the one from be- 
neath his coat, and gathering up the mouth as if to tie it, 
passes it up through the mouth of the sack he is in, as 
you are drawing it together to be tied; you take hold 
of this, and gather the mouth of the outer sack about it, 
leaving the mouth of the inner sack protruding as if it 



HERRMANN'S WIZARDS' MANUAL 87 

were that of the outer sack, holding the hands about the 
folds of the outer sack so as to hide it from view, only 
a few of the folds being placed with those of the inner 
sack, so that the hands may be eventually removed. 

Having gathered the two mouths in such a manner as 
to suit your purpose, you hand a strong piece of cord to 
one of those about you, and request him to tie the sack 
securely while you hold it; then get another person to 
make a turn, and then another, so as to convince every- 
one that there is no confederacy about the tying; then 
finally have the mouth sealed with wax, and an impres- 
sion make with a signet ring. Another assistant or your- 
self now takes hold of the head part of the sack and you 
request one or two of the party to assist you to carry the 
sack and contents behind the screen where it is deposited. 
The assistant inside, as soon as all is clear, gently pulls 
the sides of the outer sack from the cord, then thrusts 
forth the second sack and makes his own exit. The first 
sack he thnnvs behind the scenes, and then comes forward 
carrying the second one, the mouth of w^hich is still se- 
curely tied and sealed. 

To Produce Bowls of Water and Goldfish from 
beneath a Cloth, and to Make them Disappear 
Again. — The performer comes forward with a large 
cloth, w r hich he shows to be quite free from any prepara- 
tion, and then waving it from 
side to side a few times, he rests 
it upon his arm and draws from 
beneath it a large bowl of water 
with goldfish in it. This is put -pi*. 28> 

upon the table. He goes through 

the performance a second and a third time, each time bring- 
ing to light another bowl, similar to the first. Having 
produced three, he announces that it is quite as easy to 
make them disappear; to prove it he covers one with a 
cloth, carries it forward to the audience, asks them to 




88 HERRMANN'S WIZARDS' MANUAL 

catch, and throws it at them, and they are surprised to 
find that the bowl has disappeared . 

The bowls, water, and fish, are all genuine; there is, 
however, an article which the audience do not see, and 
this is a thin indiarubber cover, which stretches tightly 
across the bowl and remains there until removed, keeping 
the water inside and allowing the bowls to be placed in 
any position. The bowls (Fig. 28) should be about 
eight inches in diameter and about one and one-half 
inches deep. They are nearly filled with water, the 
goldfish put in, and then the indiarubber cover stretched 
over. Supposing you intend to produce three, you would 
put one bowl so prepared into the breast-pocket of your 
coat on the right, the second on the left, and the third 
inside the vest, or in the coat-tail pocket. If the latter 
pockets are not large enough, you can have a bag made 
to answer the purpose, which is suspended beneath the 
tails. 

Thus prepared you take up a large cloth, and ad- 
vance to the audience, showing both sides empty; then 
slowly waving it by two corners, you throw it over the 
right shoulder and arm, and extend the right arm in 
front of you, bending the elbow. Now while the right 
arm is thus extended, with the left you draw from the 
right breast-pocket the first bowl, and support it hori- 
zontally upon the palm of the hand. The right arm 
now gradually drops down in front allowing the cloth 
to rest upon the bowl, so that the audience can see there 
is something beneath it. The right hand, being free, is 
now brought above the bowl and the cloth, and takes 
firm hold, through the cloth, of the indiarubber cover 
at the edge of the glass, and draws it off as it removes 
the cloth, revealing the first bowl of goldfish upon the 
left hand. This is put upon the table or upon a chair. 
Repeating the movement with the cloth, you this time 
throw it over the left shoulder and arm, and show the 



HERRMANN'S WIZARDS' MANUAL 89 

bowl of fish upon the right hand. The third is pro- 
duced in like manner, according to the position in which 
you have secreted it. 

To make them one or all disappear — one, however, 
is quite sufficient — you require a handkerchief, prepared 
in the same manner as that used in the " Vanishing 
Tumbler of Water " trick — that is, with a circular wire, 
of the same diameter as the top of one of the bowls, be- 
tween two handkerchiefs. Taking the double handker- 
chief, and showing it to be empty, you draw it over one 
of the bowls upon the table, so that the ring may be 
over the bowl. Take hold of the ring through the hand- 
kerchief, and as you raise that from the table, with the 
other hand you lower the bowl upon the servante. Ad- 
vancing to the audience with the supposed bowl beneath 
the handkerchief, you make a feint of throwing it at 
them ; release the ring, take hold of a corner of the hand- 
kerchief, and behold! the bowl has vanished and the 
handkerchief is shown empty. 

The Tube and Ball. — This is a very ingenious trick, 
and well worth the attention of the most fastidious per- 
former. It can be used in several ways. 

The apparatus consists of a one and one-half inch brass 
tube about seven inches long, with a cap of the same 
metal fitting closely over one end ; also two billiard balls 
about the size of the diameter of the tube. The spec- 
tators, however, are not supposed to know of the existence 
of more than one ball. The tube and cap, together with 
the ball, are given for examination, attention being drawn 
to the fact that the ball will readily pass through the 
tube. After examination the tube is stood on one end 
on the table and covered with the cap. The operator then 
takes the ball and causes it to vanish by means of sleight- 
of-hand, when, on the tube being raised, it has to all 
appearances been passed underneath. 

The secret lies in the fact that there is a very small 



9 o HERRMANN'S WIZARDS , MANUAL 

dent in the side of the tube at the center; also that one 
of the balls — that given for examination — is slightly 
smaller than the other. The small ball runs freely- 
through the tube, but the large one will not pass the 
center on account of the indentation. 

On receiving back the tube the performer secretly 
drops the large ball into it, which, owing to the force 
of the fall, is pinched in the center and will not fall out. 
In this condition the tube can be turned about in all di- 
rections and will still appear empty. When placing it 
on the table the performer is careful to bring it down 
rather smartly on the end at which the ball was intro- 
duced, when, owing to the concussion, the ball is released 
and falls on the table. 

The Smashed Watch Restored. — Suggesting to the 
owner of a borrowed watch that it wants regulating, you 
offer to undertake that duty for him, and, placing his 
watch in a mortar, bring down the pestle with a heavy 
thump upon it. A smash, as of broken glass, is heard, 
and, after sufficient pounding, you empty the fragments 
of the watch into your hand, to the horror of the owner. 
You offer to return the fragments, but he naturally ob- 
jects to receive them, and insists that you restore the 
watch in the same condition as when it was handed to 
you. After a little discussion, you agree to do so, premis- 
ing that you can only effect the object through the 
agency of fire. Fetching a loaf of bread, you place it 
on the table in view of the company. Then wrapping 
the fragments of the watch in paper, you place them in 
a pistol, and, aiming at the loaf, request the owner of 
the watch to give the signal to fire. The word is given, 
" One, two, three — Bang!" Stepping up to the loaf, 
you bring it forward for the spectators, and tearing it 
asunder, exhibit in its very center the borrowed watch, 
completely restored, and bright as when it first left the 
maker's hands. 



HERRMANN'S WIZARDS' MANUAL 91 

The seeming mystery is easily explained. The mortar 
has a movable bottom, which allows the watch at the 
performer's pleasure to fall through into his hand. There 
is a hollow space in the thick end of the pestle, closed 
by a round piece of wood lightly screwed in, which, fit- 
ting tightly in the bottom part of the mortar, easily un- 
screws itself, as the performer apparently grinds away at 
the ill-fated chronometer. In the cavity are placed be- 
forehand the fragments of a watch, which, thus released, 
fall into the mortar, and are poured out by the performer 
into his hand, in order to show that there has been " no 
deception." When the performer goes to fetch the loaf, 
he has already obtained possession of the watch, which, 
after giving it a rub upon his coat-sleeve or a bit of 
leather to increase its brightness, he pushes into a slit 
already made in the side of the loaf. When the loaf is 
torn asunder (which the performer takes care to do from 
the side opposite to that in which the opening has been 
made), the watch is naturally found imbedded therein. 

If a regular conjuring-table is used, the loaf may be 
placed in readiness on the servante. The performer in 
this case, having got possession of the watch, and holding 
it secretly palmed, borrows a hat. Walking carelessly 
behind his table, he asks, as if in doubt, " Who lent me 
this hat?" holding it up with one hand, that the spec- 
tators may see that it is empty. While all eyes are thus 
drawn to the hat, he with the other hand forces the watch 
into the loaf, and then, in bringing the hat down on the 
table, introduces the loaf into it, after the manner of the 
well-known " cannon-ball " trick, described elsewhere. 
The hat is then placed on the table as if empty, and the 
pistol fired at the hat. This little addition heightens 
the effect of the trick. 

The Butterfly Trick. — The performer brings for- 
ward an ordinary fan, and a couple of bits of tissue- 
paper, each torn into a fanciful likeness of a butterfly. 



92 HERRMANN'S WIZARDS' MANUAL 

Taking these upon his hand, he gently fans them, the 
motion of the air speedily causing them to rise above his 
head. Still gently fanning them, he causes them to 
hover, now high, now low, now fluttering along the w T all, 
now descending into a gentleman's hat, whence they 
presently emerge to again flutter hither and thither at 
his pleasure. 

The point that most strikes an attentive observer is 
the fact that, whether they fly high or low, the butter- 
flies always keep together. Sometimes they may be a 
couple of feet apart, sometimes only a few inches, but 
they never exceed the above limit; and the spectator 
naturally concludes that an extraordinary degree of dex- 
terity must be necessary to enable the performer to keep 
them from diverging more widely. Here, however, in 
truth lies the secret of the trick, which is, that the so- 
called butterflies are connected by a piece of very fine 
silk a couple of feet in length, which, when the butterflies 
are in motion, is absolutely invisible to the spectators. 
The remainder of the trick is a matter of practice, though 
it is less difficult than would be imagined by anyone who 
has never attempted it. 

Some performers have the silk thread attached to one 
of the buttons of the coat. This arrangement will be 
found greatly to facilitate the working of the trick. 

The paper for the butterflies is better torn than cut, 
and should be as nearly as possible of the shape of a 
St. George's cross, and about two inches square. 

The Mystic Afghan Bands. — This trick is supposed 
to have been invented by the old East India fakirs, who 
presented it in such a seemingly innocent manner that 
its secret was not discovered until lately. It is certainly 
one of the cleverest tricks, with such simple accessories. 

Three paper bands are shown to the audience, each, 
apparently, without the slightest preparation; the per- 
former takes the first band, and with a pair of scissors 



HERRMANN'S WIZARDS' MANUAL 93 

makes an incision in the center of the paper and cuts 
right round the band, when it naturally falls into two 
separate rings. Taking the second band, the performer 
repeats the dividing operation, with the surprising result 
that instead of obtaining two separate hoops, this band 
is turned into two hoops interlinked together in a man- 
ner that prevents them from being separated without 
breaking one of the bands. 

The third and last hoop is now taken and divided 
round the center in a similar manner to the previous ones, 
only this time instead of changing into two separate or 
interlinked hoops, it falls into one long band just double 
the size of what it was before being cut. By cutting it 
again in the same way it will change to a hoop four times 
the size it was when first exhibited. 

The secret of this seeming marvel is, in reality, ex- 
tremely simple, and costs nothing, while its effect is good 
enough to warrant its production upon the stage. It 
is worked as follows : To form the bands get three pieces 
of paper about twenty-four inches long by an inch wide. 
The first hoop is made by simply joining the tw^o ends of 
the paper together, with the natural result that has been 
described. The second one, however, is constructed in 
a slightly different manner; before fastening the ends 
together, the paper must be given a couple of twists and 
then joined. For the third, only one twist is necessary, 
and when the last hoop has been fastened together you 
are ready to present the trick. 

Further instructions are superfluous, as when the 
bands have been made the working is simplicity itself, and 
it is impossible to go wrong. 

For obvious reasons the bands cannot be passed round 
before the experiment, unless you are going to stick the 
ends together in front of the audience, but after the trick 
the hoops can be handed round without any fear of the 
secret being discovered. 



94 HERRMANN'S WIZARDS' MANUAL 



The Inexhaustible Bottle. — The inexhaustible bot- 
tle, though in appearance an ordinary glass bottle, is in 
reality of tin, japanned black. Internally it is divided 
into three, four, or five separate compartments, ranged 
round a central space, and each tapering to a narrow- 
mouthed tube, which terminates about an inch within 
the neck of the bottle. A small pinhole 
is drilled through the outer surface of the 
bottle into each compartment, the holes 
being so placed that when the bottle is 
grasped by the hand in the ordinary way 
each hole may be covered by one or other 
of the fingers or thumb. The central 
space is left empty, but the surrounding 
compartments are filled, by means of a 
funnel with a very tapering nozzle, with 
the wines or liquids expected to be most 
in demand, or to which it is intended to 
**\J|BP limit the spectators' choice. A tray full 
of glasses, made specially of very thick 
glass, so as to contain in reality much less 
than they appear to do, completes the 
apparatus. 

The performer comes forward with 
the magic bottle, followed by an attendant bearing the tray 
of glasses. He commences by openly pouring water into 
the bottle, and out again, so as indirectly to raise the in- 
ference that the bottle must be perfectly empty. The 
water, in truth, really passes into the center space only, and 
thence runs out again as soon as the bottle is tilted. The 
fingers, meanwhile, are tightly pressed on the different holes, 
and thus excluding the air,, effectually prevent any prema- 
ture flow of wine from the various compartments. The 
performer, still holding the bottle mouth downwards, says, 
" You observe, ladies and gentlemen, that the bottle is 
now perfectly empty, and yet, by my magic art, I shall 




Fig. 29. 



HERRMANN'S WIZARDS' MANUAL 95 

compel it to refill itself for your benefit." He then, ad- 
dressing various individuals, asks each whether he prefers 
port, sherry, gin, etc., and when the answer is given, 
has only to raise the finger stopping the air-hole of that 
particular compartment to cause the liquid named to flow 
from the bottle r stopping as soon as the finger is again 
pressed on the hole. It is a good plan, in order to pre- 
vent confusion, to place the liquors in the bottle in alpha- 
betical order, commencing from the hole stopped by the 
thumb. Some performers increase the variety of the 
liquors produced by placing beforehand in certain of 
the glasses a few drops of various flavoring essences. By 
this means a compartment filled with plain spirits of 
wine may be made to do duty for brandy, whiskey, etc., 
at pleasure, according to the glass into which the liquid is 
poured. 

The trick is sometimes elaborated by the performer, 
by way of conclusion, apparently breaking the bottle, and 
producing therefrom a borrowed handkerchief or other 
article which has been made to disappear in some previous 
trick. This is effected by means of an additional spe- 
cialty in the construction of the bottle. The compart- 
ments containing the liquids in this case terminate a couple 
of inches above the bottom of the bottle, and the part 
below this, which has a wavy edge, like fractured glass, 
is made to slip on and off. (See Fig. 29.) The per- 
former, having produced the wines, pretends to crack the 
bottle all round by rapping it with his wand, and, hav- 
ing apparently cracked it, pulls the bottom off, and ex- 
hibits the handkerchief, which was beforehand placed in 
readiness therein. The two parts of the bottle joining 
with great nicety, there is little fear that the pretended 
crack will prematurely attract attention. 

The Chinese Rings. — These are rings of brass or 
steel, in diameter from five to nine inches, and in thick- 
ness varying from a quarter to three-eighths of an inch. 



96 HERRMANNS WIZARDS' MANUAL 

The effect of the trick to the spectator Is as follows: 
The rings are given for examination, and found to be 




Fig. 30. 

solid and separate; but at the will of the operator they 
are linked together in chains of two, three, or more, 




Fig. 31. 



becoming connected and disconnected in a moment, and 
being continually offered for examination. Finally, after 



HERRMANN'S WIZARDS' MANUAL 97 

the rings have become involved in an apparently inex- 
tricable mass, a slight shake suffices to disentangle them, 
and to cause them to fall singly upon the stage. 

The set of eight rings sold at the conjuring depots 
consists of one " key " ring, two single rings, a set of 
two linked together, and a set of three linked together. 
The " key " ring, in which lies the secret of the trick, 



Fig. 33. 

is simply a ring with a cut or opening in it. The 
manipulation of the rings admits of almost infinite vari- 
ation, and the practice of performers differs greatly as 
to the mode of working them. We give one method in 
detail. 

The performer comes forward holding the eight rings 
in his left hand, arranged as follows: First (i. e., inner- 
most), comes the set of three; then the " key " ring (the 
opening uppermost in the hand), then the set of two; 
and, lastly, the two single rings. Taking one of the 
single rings, he hands it to a spectator for examination; 
passing it, when returned, to another person, and care- 



98 HERRMANN'S WIZARDS' MANUAL 

lessly handing the second single ring to be examined in 
like manner. This should be done without any appear- 
ance of haste, and with an air of being perfectly indiffer- 
ent as to how many of the rings are examined. The 
two " singles " having been duly inspected, the performer 
requests one of the spectators to take them both in his 
right hand, at the same time taking in his own right 




Fig. 33- 

hand the next two rings, which, it will be remembered, 
are the set of two, though the audience naturally believes 
them to be, like the first, separate. " Now, sir," the 
professor continues, " will you be good enough to link 
one of the rings which you hold into the other? " The 
person addressed looks more or less foolish, and finally 
" gives it up." " You can't," says the performer in pre- 
tended surprise. " My dear sir, nothing is easier. You 
have only to do as I do. See! " Laying down the rest 
of the rings, he holds the two as in Fig. 30, and makes 
a gentle rubbing motion with the thumb upon the rings, 



HERRMANN'S WIZARDS' MANUAL 99 

and then lets fall one of them, which naturally drops to 
the position shown in Fig. 31. He now hands these 
two rings for examination. The spectators seek for some 
joint or opening but none is found; and meanwhile the 
performer transfers the next ring (the "key") to his 
right hand, keeping the opening under the thumb. He 
now takes back with the left hand the two single rings, 



Fig. 34. 

immediately transferring one of them to the right hand, 
and with the ball of the thumb presses it through the 
opening in the key ring, into which it falls, with exactly 
the same' effect as the apparent joining of the two linked 
rings a moment before. Again he separates and again 
joins the two rings. The second single ring is now made 
to pass through in like manner, making the combination 
shown in Fig. 32. The performer remarks, " We now 
have three joined together. Here are three more, as 
you see (shaking those in the left hand), all solid and 



ioo HERRMANN'S WIZARDS' MANUAL 

separate, and yet at my will they will join the others." 
Making a rubbing motion with the thumb as before, he 
drops two of the three, one by one, from the hand, when 




Fig- 35- 



they will appear as a chain of three. These he hands 
for examination, taking back the set of two, and linking 
them one after the other into the key ring, to which now 
four rings are attached. Again taking back the set of 
three, he links these also one by one into the key ring, 
which thus has seven rings inserted in it. (See Fig. 33.) 



HERRMANN'S WIZARDS' MANUAL 101 



Using both hands, but always keeping the opening of 
the key ring under one or the other thumb, he now takes 
off these seven rings, commencing with the two single 
ones, and again offering them for examination; then tak- 
ing off the set of two. Last of all, he unlinks the set 




Fig. 36. 

of three, and then, holding them at length in his left 
hand, joins the upper one to the key ring, thus making 
a chain of four, of which the key ring is the uppermost. 
He next takes the lowermost ring of the four, and links 
that into the key ring, bringing the four rings into a 
diamond shape, as shown in Fig. 34. Again unlinking 
the lower ring, he takes up the set of tw T o, and connects 
them with the key ring, holding them up above it, thus 



io2 HERRMANN'S WIZARDS' MANUAL 

making a chain of six, the key ring being third from 
the top. (See Fig. 35.) Taking the upper ring be- 
tween his teeth, he links the two single rings into the 
key ring on either side, making the figure of a cross, as 
shown in Fig. 36. As the hands are now occupied in 
holding the single rings forming the arms of the cross, he 
can no longer keep the opening of the key ring concealed 
by the thumb, but it is extremely unlikely that among 
so many rings, so slight a mark in one of them will attract 
notice. Regaining possession of the key ring, he links all 
one by one into it, so as again to bring them into the con- 
dition illustrated in Fig. 33. Then, holding the key ring 
with both hands; and with the opening downwards, about 
a couple of feet from the floor he shakes the rings vio- 
lently, at the same time gently straining open the key 
ring, when the seven rings will all in succession drop 
through the slit and scatter themselves about the floor, the 
general impression being that they all fall separate, though 
the grouped sets, of course, remain still united. 

The Thinkophone. — The performer invites three gen- 
tlemen, whom we will distinguish as A, B, and C, to assist 
him on the platform. When they are duly seated, a piece 
of blank paper is handed to A, and an open envelope. to 
B. A is invited to think of some person, living or dead 
at his discretion. When he declares that he has done so, 
the performer places the ladle end of the changing ladle, 
(described elsewhere,) which he calls his "thinkophone, 5 ' 
on A's head, and applying his own ear to the opposite end, 
declares that he is able by that means to divine (in fact 
he already knows) what name the gentleman has thought 
of. In order', however, to prove that there is no collusion 
(or for any other colorable reason), he asks A to write in 
pencil the name he has thought of, and to fold the paper 
in four. The performer receives it in the ladle, and 
therewith hands it (without changing) to C, who is in- 
vited to look at the name, refold and replace it. It is 



HERRMANN'S WIZARDS' MANUAL 103 

then handed, still in the ladle, to B, with a request that he 
will place it in the envelope which he holds. At this 
point, however, it is " changed " for another folded paper, 
of similar appearance, with which the ladle was " loaded " 
beforehand. While the substitute (which B is not in- 
vited to look at) is being placed in the envelope, the per- 
former gets the genuine paper from the ladle into his hand. 
He puts the ladle aside, and begins reflectively to walk up 
and down the stage, now and then putting a question to 
A, such as, " Is the person whose name you have written 
living, or dead?" — ■" A gentleman or a lady?"— "A 
relative, or a stranger in blood?" and so on. Mean- 
while, he opens and reads the paper in his palm, and after 
a little more by-play, declares that the name is So-and-so. 
He asks C whether that was the name he saw on the 
paper, and on receiving a reply in the affirmative, tells B 
to take the paper out of the envelope, and hand it back to 
A. B breaks open the envelope accordingly, but the per- 
former stops him the moment he has done so, and asks him 
to hold up the folded paper in view of the audience, while 
he explains " how it's done." This is stated to be by 
" second sight," the performer explaining the meaning of 
the term as follows: " When this gentleman (A) writes 
the name, he sees it. That's first sight ! Then I tell you 
what it is. And now / seize it, and that's second sight! " 

At the words " I seize it," he suits the action to the 
word, and forthwith hands the paper to A, but in so 
doing changes it for the original paper, which remained 
in his possession. 

Reading Blindfolded. — The supposed clairvoyant, 
usually a lady, is seated with a small table before her. The 
performer distributes a number of blank cards among the 
spectators, who are invited to write thereon words or 
sentences in pencil. The cards, when written on, are 
collected in an envelope, and handed to the performer, who 
meanwhile has blindfolded the clairvoyant, but in such a 



104 HERRMANN'S WIZARDS' MANUAL 

manner that though she cannot see through the bandages, 
she can get a sly downward peep at the table in front 
of her. Taking one of the cards from the envelope, he 
holds it in front of her forehead, close against the bandage. 
After a moment's hesitation she reads the name inscribed 
thereon, say, " Oliver Cromwell." Another card is taken 
in a like manner, the one first used being thrown carelessly 
on the table ; and so on through the whole series of cards. 

The secret lies in the fact that that name " Oliver 
Cromwell," stated to be on the first card, was not there 
at all ; but is, in fact, a bogus name agreed on beforehand. 
The real inscription on the card was, we will say, " Julius 
Caesar; " but the assertion of the clairvoyant is not tested, 
and nobody can be sure that his neighbor may not have 
written " Oliver Cromwell," so the answer passes muster. 
When the card has been professedly " read," the per- 
former throws it with apparent carelessness on the table, 
but within the radius of the downward glance of the clair- 
voyant. She notes the name on it, and gives that name 
as being the one on the second card, and so on throughout. 
To complete the trick, and avoid accident, the performer 
should be provided with a card of his own, bearing the 
name " Oliver Cromwell." This card is taken, as if from 
the envelope, and held by way of finish; the clairvoyant 
reading, as if inscribed on it, the name appearing on the 
card last laid on the table. The tale is then complete. 

The Spirit Handkerchief. — The performer borrows 
a white silk handkerchief from some obliging male spec- 
tator, and after making a large knot in one of its corners 
drops the handkerchief on the floor. After requesting the 
pianist to furnish him with some music of the gentle, trick- 
ling kind, he commands the handkerchief to assume an 
erect position, which it immediately does. Passing his 
hands continually above and around all sides of the hand- 
kerchief, the performer causes it to go through a series of 
very mystifying movements, the handkerchief rising, lying 



HERRMANN'S WIZARDS' MANUAL 105 

down, dancing and gliding back and forth at his word 
of command. For a finish the borrowed handkerchief 
jumps into the hand of the performer, who immediately 
returns it to its owner, who, after carefully examining it, 
fails to find anything indicative of preparation about it. 

The conjurer's friend, the black silk thread, is at the 
bottom of this very charming and pleasing feat. The 
thread is stretched horizontally across the stage, its ends 
being held by assistants standing in the wings. Before 
the trick and during the borrowing of the handkerchief 
the thread is allowed to lie loosely on the floor, from 
where it is raised to a level with the performer's hand, 
immediately after he has returned to the stage and stepped 
over it. Secretly seizing the thread, he manages to make 
a knot in the handkerchief around it, and then drops it to 
the floor, as described. 

The rest of the explanation is simple enough: the con- 
cealed assistants work the thread and thus cause the hand- 
kerchief to rise, lie down, dance and glide back and forth 
according to the will of the performer, w T ho, standing 
sidewise to the audience, allows the thread to pass be- 
tween his legs, thus being at liberty to walk backward and 
forward without interfering with the working of the 
thread. 

The detaching of the thread previous to the return of 
the handkerchief still remains to be explained. This is 
accomplished by the performer seizing the knot of the 
handkerchief after the latter, by the clever manipulation on 
the part of the concealed assistants, has jumped into his 
hand; one assistant releases his end of the thread, while 
the other rapidly gathers his in, pulling the thread out 
through the knot, and leaving the handkerchief ready to 
be returned and duly inspected. 

The Bewitched Skull. — A couple of open-backed 
chairs are placed sideways to the audience, back to back, 
about two feet apart. Upon these, resting on the backs, 



106 HERRMANN'S WIZARDS , MANUAL 

is a sheet of plate-glass, two feet six inches in length, and 
almost fifteen inches in breadth. The chairs and glass are 
usually placed in position before the curtain rises, but in 
order to show that there is no deception the performer 
takes up the piece of glass and brings it forward for ex- 
amination, as also a papier mache skull, life-size, and 
closely resembling the real article. It has the lower jaw 




Fig. 37. 

complete, and a broad curved band of hoop-iron, painted 
to match the rest, extends from below the jaw to the 
lower part of the occiput. This band forms a rest for 
the skull, so that when placed on a smooth surface, it 
stands fairly upright, though so nearly in equilibrio as to 
rock freely from back to front (see Fig. 37). 

Having replaced the sheet of glass in position across the 
backs of the chairs, the performer places the skull upon it, 
facing the audience (see Fig. 38). Withdrawing to a 
little distance, he proceeds to put questions to it, which the 
skull answers by nods, one for " No," and three for 
" Yes." Numbers are indicated by nodding the requisite 
number of times. 



HERRMANN'S WIZARDS' MANUAL 107 

The answers are as a rule of a simple character, such 
as revealing the numbers of a pair of dice (" loaded, " and 
changed as may be necessary) thrown into a hat, naming 
the suit and value of a drawn card, etc. " Fortune tell- 
ing questions " may also be asked, and will be, if not 
always correctly, at any rate intelligently answered. 




Fig. 38. 

When the little comedy is over, the performer again brings 
forward the skull and sheet of glass and offers them for 
examination. If any skeptical gentleman ventures to sus- 
pect that the two chairs have any connection with the 
platform, or play any occult part, electrical, mechanical 
or otherwise, he is invited to come forward and inspect 
them, but the closest scrutiny will not reveal anything 
of a suspicious character. 

The secret, like that of many of the best of magical 
illusions, lies in a simple black silk thread, which, against 
a moderately dark background, is quite invisible. The 



io8 HERRMANN'S WIZARDS' MANUAL 

silk is threaded at the outset through the open backs of 
the two chairs, each end passing behind the scenes, where 
they are united in the hand of the assistant. When the 
performer replaces the sheet of plate-glass upon the chairs 
after examination, he lifts the thread so that it may lie 
along the surface of the glass, passing from end to end, or 
nearly, close to its under edge. The middle of the thread 
as it thus lies on the glass bears a little pellet of wax, and 
this, in placing the skull on the glass, the performer presses 
against its hinder part. The thread has hitherto been left 
free by the assistant, but if now slightly tightened by a pull 
on the double line, the skull is tilted slightly backward. 
On the pull being again relaxed, it drops back into 'its 
normal position, giving the effect of a nod. This is the 
whole of the mystery. By pulling each end of the thread 
alternately, to a scarcely perceptible extent, the skull may 
be made to turn to right or left. When the trick is over, 
and the performer again tiffers the skull for examination, 
the assistant releases one end of the thread, and draws it 
away by the other. As the thread constitutes the whole 
working machinery, the skull, glass and chairs may be 
examined with the utmost freedom, without any risk. 

The Disappearing Lady. — A handsome lady, in full 
evening dress, stands upon a glass shelf which is raised 
some 30 inches above the stage, being placed in front of a 
large mirror also raised above the stage floor. A screen is 
then so placed about her as to plainly show both sides of 
the mirror. The magician then states at the word of com- 
mand he will cause the lady to vanish. The screen is 
removed, and the lady has disappeared. The manner of 
doing the trick is simple. The mirror is made in two 
parts, the shelf or platform whereon the lady stands hiding 
the upper part of the lower section of mirror. The upper 
section of mirror is placed to the rear of the lower mirror, 
its lower end slipping down back of it. When it is pushed 
up the upper part is hidden in the wide panel of frame. 



HERRMANN'S WIZARDS' MANUAL 109 




Fig. 39- 



In the lower part of the large glass a large opening is 
made, through which the lady is drawn by a confederate. 
After she has escaped, the mirror is shoved into its proper 
position. A portion of the mirror is 
seen by the audience during the entire 
exhibition, thus adding greatly to the 
mystery of the illusion. 

The Mystery of the Floating 
Head. — One of the most startling of 
conjurors' tricks, and one which has 
piqued public curiosity to the utmost, 
is that sensationally announced as the 
" Human Head Floating in the Air." 
Multitudes have witnessed and won- 
dered at this performance; which seems 
to have defied any explanation by the uninitiated. 

That the head is a gutta-percha or plaster affair, is a pet 
theory with those who have not seen it, but after witness- 
ing, this idea is reluctantly discarded. In reality it is a 
human head, and the seeming absence of any body at- 
tached thereto will be accounted for as soon as we disclose 
the mystery and secret of the per- 
formance. 

The sides and back of the stage 
are hung with curtains. Near the 
back of the stage two mirrors are 
placed at right angles, the point, 
equi-distant from each side of the 
stage, facing the audience. The mir- 
rors being at angles with the sides, of 
course reflect the curtains at the sides, 
and these curtains being the same in 
style and material, their reflection has 
the same appearance as the curtain at the back of the stage. 
The audience seeing this reflection naturally imagine they 
are having an unobstructed view of the back of the stage. 




Fig. 40. 



no HERRMANN'S WIZARDS' MANUAL 

Behind this wall of glass the conjuror's confederate 
takes his position, of course, only that part of his person 
which is above the glass being visible. So the " floating 
head " is really a man peeping over a glass fence. The 
cushion which is commonly used to apparently support the 
head, is suspended outside of the glass, by fine wire. 




Fig. 41. 



The exhibitor is always careful to keep out of the 
angles of the glass, otherwise he would be reflected, and 
the existence of the glasses disclosed to the audience. 
When standing at the stage " wings,' 5 or when directly in 
front of the central " point " of the mirrors, he is secure 
from reflection. 

Our illustrations make this explanation clear. Fig. 39 
shows the head as it appears to the audience; Fig. 40 



HERRMANN'S WIZARDS' MANUAL 



nr 




shows the position, behind the glass, of the individual per- 
sonating the " head." In the latter picture the spectator 
is supposed to be looking through the mirrors. 

The Cabinet of Proteus. — This is a wooden closet, 
seven to eight feet in height by four or five feet square, 
supported on short legs, so as to exclude the idea of any 
communication with the floor. It has folding doors, and 
an upright pillar extends from 
top to bottom of the interior, 
at about the center of the cabi- 
net. At the top of this pillar, 
in front, is fixed a lamp, so that 
the whole of the interior is 
brightly illuminated. 

The cabinet may be used 
in various ways. One of the 
most striking is as . follows: Fig. 42. 

The folding doors are opened, 

disclosing the interior perfectly empty. (See Fig. 41.) 
The exhibitor directs his assistant to walk into the cabinet. 
He does so, and the doors are closed. Meanwhile, a 
couple of gentlemen, selected by the audience, are invited to 
stand behind or beside the cabinet, and see that no one 
obtains ingress or egress by any secret opening. Notwith- 
standing these precautions, when the doors are again 
opened, the assistant is found to have vanished, and an- 
other person, different in dress, in stature, and in com- 
plexion, is found in his place. This person steps forth, 
makes his bow and retires. Again the cabinet, now empty, 
is closed, and after an interval of a few moments, again 
opened. This time a human skeleton is found to occupy 
the vacant space. This having been removed, and the 
door having been once more closed and opened, another 
person, say, a lady, appears. This person haying retired, 

the doors are again closed; and when they are again 

opened, the person who first entered is once more found 



112 HERRMANN'S WIZARDS' MANUAL 

within. A committee from the audience are now invited 
to examine the cabinet within and without, but all their 
scrutiny cannot detect any hidden space, even sufficient to 
conceal a mouse. 

An examination of Fig. 42, representing a ground plan 
of the cabinet, will make plain the seeming mystery. A 
movable flap, a b, working on hinges at b, extends from 
top to bottom of each side, resting when thrown open 
against the post c in the middle, and thus enclosing a tri- 
angular space at the back of the cabinet. The outer sur- 
faces of these, flaps (1. e., the surfaces exposed when they 
are folded back against the sides of the cabinet) are, like 
the rest of the interior, covered with wall paper, of a 
crimson or other dark color. The opposite sides of the 
flaps are mirrors, and when the flaps are folded back 
against the posts, reflect the surfaces against which they 
previously rested, and which are covered with paper of 
the same pattern as the rest. The effect to the eye of the 
spectator is that of a perfectly empty chamber, though, as 
we have seen, there is in reality an enclosed triangular 
space behind the post. This is capable of containing two 
or three persons, and here it is that the persons and things 
intended to appear in succession are concealed. The as- 
sistant, entering in sight of the audience, changes places, 
as soon as the door is closed, with one of the other per- 
sons. This person having retired, and the door again 
being closed, those who are still within place the skeleton 
in position in front of the post, and again retire to their 
hiding-place. When all the rest have appeared, the per- 
son who first entered presses the flaps against the sides of 
the cabinet, against which they are retained by a spring 
lock on each side, and the public may then safely be ad- 
mitted, as their closest inspection cannot possibly discover 
the secret. 

The Mystic Flight. — The performer, attired in an 
evening dress suit, introduces to the audience his liveried 



HERRMANN'S WIZARDS' MANUAL 113 

assistant, whom he dresses in a long flowing robe which 
entirely conceals him from view. A glass-topped table 
standing in the center of the stage is mounted by the 
performer and screens are pulled all around him. To 
show that he is still there both hands are thrust out over 
the top of the screen and they are held in this position 
throughout the entire experiment. The robed assistant 
now fires a revolver at the screens, the hands are imme- 
diately withdrawn, the curtains pulled away, and there, 
standing on the table, is the very assistant who had just 
fired the revolver. But what has become of the per- 
former? This perfectly natural question is answered 
by the man in the cloak who is still standing with the 
smoking pistol in his hand ; throwing off the long cloak in 
which the assistant had been dressed, there stands re- 
vealed to the astonished audience the performer himself, 
attired in the same clothes as when he was perched upon 
the table. 

So much for the effect, which is indeed truly marvel- 
ous. We will now explain the modus operandi whereby 
the illusion can be performed. 

Glancing at Fig. 43, the reader will get an idea as 
to how the evanishment of the performer is effected; but 
let us commence at the beginning and explain the details 
thoroughly. 

The table is devoid of preparation and is placed in the 
center of the stage, nearer the back than the footlights, 
for reasons that are obvious. To prove that the floor con- 
tains no traps, electric lights or candles can be placed 
underneath the table if desired, but as the curtains only 
descend to within two feet from the ground this precau- 
tion is not a necessity, as the audience can see below and 
right through to the back of the stage. Although the 
floor contains no trap, the stage back is utilized in its 
stead, the cavity being artfully masked by an oil-painting 
which is hanging on the wall, presumably for ornamen- 



ii 4 HERRMANN'S WIZARDS' MANUAL 

tation. Behind the screen this cannot be seen, so an 
assistant stationed behind the scenes lowers the canvas, 
and pushes through the empty frame a wooden plank 
which rests its other end upon the table where the per- 
former is standing. Because of this, the back screen is 




Fig. 43- 



only half the depth of the front and two side ones. Along 
this plank, then, the professor crawls, and in the act of 
disappearing he is seen in Fig. 43. After having made 
his way through the aperture, he quickly dons a costume 
exactly similar to the one in which he had previously 
dressed his assistant; this should be made out of coarse 
sacking material, as it is possible to see quite plainly 
through the mesh ; an ordinary sack with two sleeves will 
answer the purpose admirably if no more elaborate cos- 



HERRMANN'S WIZARDS' MANUAL 115 

tume is obtainable. When dressed in this manner, the 
performer stations himself in the wings, with a revolver 
in his hand. 

All this while the idea that he is not behind the screen 
has never crossed the mind of an average audience be- 
cause they see his hands protruding over the top; in 
reality they only see two dummy hands, which were pre- 
viously concealed in a pocket on the inside of the front 
screen, or they can be hidden upon the person. They 
are fashioned out of white dress gloves, duplicates of 
those which the performer is wearing, so that if they 
are hooked on to the top of the screen, nobody can tell 
the difference. 

In order to allow the performer plenty of time to get 
out of the screen and into the wings, the assistant makes 
a little speech similar to the following: 

" Now, Prof. Jones, where are you? " 

Prof. J. " Here." 

Asst. " Show the audience your hands." 

Prof. J. sticks his gloved hands out and moves them 
about, immediately withdrawing them. 

Asst. " No, keep them outside so that the audience 
can see you are still there." 

Prof. J. now substitutes the dummy hands and fixes 
them into the desired position; leaving them there he 
now gets away as quickly as possible, the assistant mean- 
while occupying the audience's attention by saying: 
" Ladies- and gentlemen, you have all seen Professor Jones 
go behind the screen, and you can see above and below, 
and also all around the curtains ; you can also see the pro- 
fessor's hands, which please watch and see that he does 
not remove them. I shall fire at the screen and imme- 
diately it will be withdrawn." 

Now the assistant goes to the wings to fetch a pistol; 
no sooner has the latter passed behind the wings than 
the performer, similarly attired, steps out backwards, 



n6 HERRMANN'S WIZARDS' MANUAL 

aping the crouching attitude, and altogether conducting 
himself in exactly the same manner as his assistant had 
previously been doing. 

The assistant, directly he passes behind the wings, 
throws off his long coat and runs to the back of the stage, 
proceeding along the plank on to the table. Immediately 
the plank is drawn behind the scenes and the canvas pic- 
ture replaced, thereby leaving nothing suspicious, and no 
unnecessary apparatus on the stage. 

When enough time has been allowed for the necessary 
workings to have been accomplished, the man in the cloak, 
whom the spectators still believe to be the assistant, fires 
the revolver; immediately the hands are pulled inside the 
screen (and either concealed upon the person or deposited 
in the screen pocket), then the assistant himself pulls the 
curtains aside and stands exposed. 

The spectators are, of course, fairly bewildered, but 
the climax is reached w T hen the performer throws the cloak 
from off himself, and bows in acknowledgment to the ap- 
plause which at all times is forthcoming to the man who 
smartly works a good illusion. 



BLACK ART 

The curtain rises, and we behold upon the stage a 
darkened cave. 

Suddenly, from out the gloomy blackness, the wizard 
appears with a mysterious suddenness that fairly startles. 
He steps out from the cave to prove that he is in the 
flesh, and then he retreats within its portals. Raising 
his empty hand aloft, he calls aloud to the spirits to sup- 
ply him with a magic wand ; and immediately his upraised 
hand is seen clutching the mysterious emblem of his 
authority. 

Nothing else is visible upon the stage, but with a wave 
of the wand a tub appears; this tub is rolled down to 
the audience, who acknowledge it to be real, solid and 
empty, and it is then rolled back. 

Slowly a full-sized skeleton rises out of this tub and 
floats about in the air, and then, at the command of the 
wizard, one of its arms or legs separates from the body 
and travels in a different direction; the head leaves the 
trunk and travels upward, and then descends again and 
joins the body. After a variety of like movements these 
bones suddenly and entirely vanish, and are seen no more. 

The magician waves his wand again, and orders two 
small tables to appear; his command is immediately 
obeyed, and they are seen standing one upon either side 
of him. Now, at his request, the spirits provide him 
with two vases, one of which appears on each table. 
These vases are handed round for examination and then 
replaced; and then the wizard requests the loan of three 
or four watches and chains. Taking them in a bunch, 

117 



n8 HERRMANN'S WIZARDS' MANUAL 

he drops them into one of the vases, and at the same 
instant turns it upside down, showing that they have 
vanished. Quickly walking over to the other table, they 
are all extracted from the vase that has been standing 
there untouched. 

At a word from the performer, the two vases or urns 
upon the table travel across the stage in opposite direc- 
tions and exchange positions with each other. Then one 
vase rises upwards and remains suspended in the air, 
while the performer passes a solid and examined hoop 
around it to prove that it is not suspended by any tangible 
support. 

Live animals — from a cat to a tiger in a cage - — can be 
easily produced or caused to vanish; and when the per- 
formance is concluded, the magician covers himself with 
a white sheet and disappears. 

Such, in brief, is an idea of the wonderful illusions 
that can be accomplished by this method, and the reader 
will readily see how exciting and weird the performance 
must be when properly presented. 

The principle of Black Art, which is here given, may 
assist the ideas of some and prove of interest to others. 

While the mysterious cave of the wizard is entirely 
draped in dead black, everything that appears so sud- 
denly is of a pure white color. 

The magician himself is dressed in the Eastern style 
of a flowing white robe. 

All the white-painted articles that are to appear are 
placed behind black screens upon the. stage, and conse- 
quently they are invisible to the audience. 

The darkness of the cave is considerably increased by 
having a few lights with reflectors behind them arranged 
around the sides and proscenium of this inner stage. 

The performer himself does absolutely nothing towards 
producing the desired articles, all the work being exe- 
cuted by an invisible assistant. This assistant is attired 



HERRMANN'S WIZARDS' MANUAL 119 




120 HERRMANN'S WIZARDS' MANUAL 

in a suit of black, with black gloves, and a hood for cover- 
ing the head and neck; the hood has small eye-holes 
covered with very thin veiling, so that there is no fear of 
the luster of the assistant's eyes being seen. 

Now it will be understood that the tables, tubs, chairs, 
etc., to be produced are first arranged in their proper 
position upon the stage, and covered over with black 
velvet. At the desired moment the assistant steps up to 
the article and seizes the covering; then, when the ma- 
gician commands the appearance of the object, the cloth 
is rapidly whisked off and carried to the back of the 
cave. The appearance of, say, the tub, right in the center 
of the stage, is so sudden and noiseless as to be really 
uncanny ; and as there cannot be any suspicious movement 
on the part of the performer, the secret of its appearance 
cannot be detected. The disappearance of any object is 
brought about in precisely the same manner, only re- 
versed; thus, supposing the tub had fulfilled its mis- 
sion and was not wanted any longer, at a word from 
the performer the assistant would simply put down a 
black screen in front of the tub, so as to completely en- 
velop it, and under cover of the screen it would be pulled 
to the back of the cave. It will now be quite understood 
that the screens must always be manipulated with the 
greatest possible neatness and rapidity, because if the 
screens or covers are made to travel slowly, the illusion 
would be imperfect, and it would lose most of its effect 
upon the audience. 

The assistant must take great care never to walk in 
front of any white object within the cave, and must 
never allow his gloved hand to be seen when he is lifting 
anything to the table, and he must never pass in front 
of the performer's person during the performance. 

Now that the general idea of the principle has been 
thoroughly explained, let us describe the construction of 
the cave, and a series of the most up-to-date tricks and 



HERRMANN'S WIZARDS' MANUAL 121 

illusions that can be accomplished within its mysterious 
portals, so that anyone possessing the inclination to pro- 
duce a Black Art seance will be in a position to start 
with a complete knowledge of the subject. 

Presuming that the reader desires to present Black Art 
at halls or bazaars, he could not do better than have his 
inner stage or cave erected to the measurements given in 
the accompanying diagram, Fig. 45. The width, it will 
be seen, should be just twelve feet, with a depth of nine 
feet, to allow the invisible assistant plenty of working 
room. The proscenium should be eight feet high, and the 
walls and ceiling must be draped with black velvet, while 
the floor is covered with black felt, which will completely 
deaden the sound of the assistant's footsteps. 

A wooden frame must be made for the front of the 
cave, and this should be painted black, with Egyptian 
figures standing out in white. A special set of lights, 
with reflectors, must be arranged to fit on the head and 
side pieces of this framework. These lights shining in 
the eyes of the spectators make it an utter impossibility 
for them to detect any object within the mystic chamber, 
unless it is of a pure white color. 

Electric lights are naturally the best and most con- 
venient for use in illuminating the front of the cave, but, 
where it is impossible to secure them, ordinary bicycle 
lamps will be found to answer the same purpose. 

Portability is desirable when constructing an inner 
stage of this description, and the most convenient method 
of erecting the wizard's cave is the following: 

First mark out upon the floor of the permanent stage 
the exact position that your own chamber is to occupy; 
then fix four upright posts into the floor, one at each 
corner; these posts should be eight feet high, and each 
one have a steel pin in the top. 

Four thin battens must be laid on the top of these 
posts, from corner to corner, being fixed by the steel pin 



122 HERRMANN'S WIZARDS' MANUAL 

passing through holes made for that purpose in each end 
of the battens. Thus a strong but light framework is 
formed, and additional strength may be obtained by hav- 
ing two extra battens fixed diagonally from corner to 
corner, although this is not absolutely necessary. 

The wooden frontage is constructed with mitered cor- 
ners, so that it can be taken to pieces and packed along 
with the supports and battens. When required for use 
the front frame must be put together and fastened to the 
two first uprights ; then the felt carpet should be laid, and 
the velvet walls and ceiling be put in their place. 

It will be noticed that the diagram, Fig. 45, shows a 
two-foot opening in the center of the back curtain : this is 
left to allow the performer or his assistant to make their 
entry or exit unobserved, and, in order to prevent the 
opening being seen, a five-foot screen, reaching from floor 
to ceiling, is stretched in front of the cavity, about eighteen 
inches away from the curtain. Another screen, similar 
in size to the one just described, is fixed on the right hand 
side of the chamber, eighteen inches in front of the one 
hiding the opening in the back; and by looking at the 
plan the reader will see how it is possible to introduce or 
cause to vanish an object almost from the very center of 
the stage. 

This ingenious arrangement allows the assistant to 
fetch from behind the back curtain any articles that are 
too bulky to remain hidden upon the stage until required 
in the performance, and it also serves to get rid of any 
large objects, such as barrels or tables, after they have 
been vanished. 

The screens should be sewed to the velvet ceiling and 
tacked to the floor to keep them perfectly firm, and care 
should be taken not to allow any lights whatever to be 
behind the cave; in fact, all the footlights should be ex- 
tinguished, and only those attached to the front of the 
inner stage allowed to shine. 



HERRMANN'S WIZARDS' MANUAL 123 

Not one spot of color must be visible within the cham- 
ber, or there would be danger of the assistant's presence 
being detected by the audience, should he pass in front of 









A 






d) 














t 

*-* 






© 




t 






^s. S 













< ** — _ «J ** _ 


--9/!--- 


• 


A : - »* 



Fig. 45- 

it; and as many lights as possible in the hall itself should 
be extinguished prior to commencing a seance. 

Having followed the instructions for erecting a suit- 
able structure, everything may be arranged and made 



124 HERRMANN'S WIZARDS' MANUAL 

ready for a performance within fifteen minutes, providing 
the work has been well rehearsed. 

Perhaps the best articles for commencing a perform- 
ance with are two tables and a barrel, which should be 
placed in the positions indicated in the plan of the stage, 
and then covered with bags of velvet. Care should be 
taken that the covers or screens covering the white ob- 
jects behind or beneath them should so hide the articles 
that when the curtain ascends the audience can sec noth- 
ing except an apparently empty stage. 

All the apparatus that will be required during the 
performance should be in readiness behind the cave, so 
that the assistant cannot fail to have everything at his 
fingers' ends to prevent any hitch in the show ; and the as- 
sistant himself should stand well to the back of the stage 
when his services are not required. 

The performer now appears, either magically or by 
simply walking in from the wings. He must, of course, 
be dressed in white, and it is advisable for him to say a 
few words describing the nature of the performance. 

To cause the sudden and mysterious appearance of the 
performer it is necessary to remove the barrel from the 
center of the stage, so that it does not interfere with or 
obstruct the view of the audience. 

The magician himself should stand behind a black 
screen in the very center of the chamber, and at the de- 
sired moment his assistant should rapidly drag the screen 
aside and expose the performer, who makes his bow while 
the invisible assistant disposes of the screen. 

A white wand, encased in a black cover, is procured 
by the assistant, and directly the performer calls for the 
article it must be slipped out of the bag and made to float 
across the stage to his hand. This, of course, is accom- 
plished by the assistant quietly walking across the stage, 
holding the wand in his hand by its extreme end. 

With a wave of the magicians stick the barrel appears 



HERRMANN'S WIZARDS' MANUAL 125 

just beside him; this had been pushed into position by the 
assistant, who, at the performer's command, snatches away 
the sheet of black velvet with which it was covered, leav- 
ing the barrel standing out in bold relief. 

Being quite solid and quite ordinary it can be wheeled 
or rather rolled down for the audience to examine, in 
case they should imagine that it was merely produced by 
reflection. 

The interior of this barrel should be painted dead 
black, so that any objects enveloped in a similarly colored 
velvet bag can be dropped into the tub and afterward pro- 
duced without any fear of the secret of their appearance 
being discovered. 

One very valuable accessory that should be constructed 
is a cylindrical box to fit easily into the interior of the 
barrel. 

This cylinder should be covered entirely in black vel- 
vet, and its use will now be obvious. A good effect may 
be obtained by loading a peculiarly constructed skeleton 
into the cylinder, which is introduced into the barrel, 
from which the skeleton rises at the performer's command. 
The introduction of the cylinder into the barrel is quite 
invisible because of the color of the surroundings, and 
the assistant should simply lift it up and drop it into the 
tub. 

The skeleton itself is made of papier mache or light 
wood, with the back of the figure completely covered with 
black velvet. The limbs are all joined, as is shown in the 
illustration, with handles affixed to each separate portion, 
so as to enable the assistant to operate the limbs without 
experiencing any difficulty. (See Fig. 46, which is the 
back view of the skeleton.) 

After the skeleton has enjoyed his dance round the 
stage and has been fully dismembered and rejointed, its 
limbs are caused to leave the body one by one and drop 
into the barrel from which they formerly arose. 



126 HERRMANN'S WIZARDS' MANUAL 

Directly every particle of the skeleton has been again 
deposited into the barrel, the magician turns it upside 
down and shows that it is quite empty. The quickness 
of this disappearance is really remarkable, and will always 




Fig. 46. 

cause considerable astonishment. It is, of course, worked 
by dropping each separate limb into the same cylinder 
which introduced them into the barrel, and when the 
whole body is inside the assistant quickly lifts the cylinder 
out before the magician shows the barrel empty. 



HERRMANN'S WIZARDS' MANUAL 127 

Should the performer so desire, a white skeleton can 
be painted upon the assistant's black suit, and a par- 
ticularly weird or lively dance can be executed by him 
with good effect; and by the simple process of turning 
round, the skeleton can be made to vanish or produced 
ad libitum, because the assistant's back is only plain velvet. 

Out of the empty barrel a score or so of pigeons, doves 
and geese can be made to fly, and a live child can be 
placed in the tub, and almost immediately the magician 
stabs about inside with a sharp sword, and afterwards 
shows that the little boy or girl has entirely vanished. 

Both these effects are executed by the use of the same 
cylinder, which for the first production has to be furnished 
with a lid or cover. The birds to be produced are put 
into this cylinder, and the cover placed over the top ; then 
it is loaded into the barrel, and at the proper moment the 
lid is lifted off, and the birds allowed to escape. 

The child is lifted into the tub and placed in the same 
cylinder that was previously occupied by the birds; the 
assistant, of course, lifts this lining and its contents out 
of the barrel before the magician attempts to pass his 
sword round the interior, and the child, being an accom- 
plice, is carried away to the back. 

Many other startling effects can be worked up with 
the barrel and the cylinder to suit the style of any par- 
ticular performer. 

When the barrel has fulfilled its mission and is wanted 
no more, it should be made to vanish and cleared away, 
to allow as much working room as possible in the limited 
area at the magician's disposal. To cause its evanish- 
ment, another cylinder of velvet, of sufficient size to 
encompass the barrel easily, should be quickly dropped 
over the tub, so that it is completely covered, then it will 
be quite invisible and can be dragged out of the way. 

The two white tables, hidden beneath velvet sheets, 
can now be produced at the performer's command. They 



128 HERRMANN'S WIZARDS' MANUAL 

should be standing upon either side of the stage as indi- 
cated in the plan previously given, and at a wave of the 
wand the assistant must snatch the covering away, leaving 
the white table completely exposed. The same operation 
should then be repeated upon the other side. 

Suddenly a large vase or urn mysteriously appears upon 
one of the tables; this is accomplished by the assistant 
bringing from the rear the desired article encased in a 
black cylinder. In this condition it is placed in the 
proper position, and then the covering quickly lifted off 
at the right moment. In the same manner a second vase 
can be made to appear on the magician's hand, and this 
is then shown quite empty and placed upon the other 
table. 

The performer now steps down to the audience, and 
requests the loan of some four or five watches and chains. 
Having obtained these, he goes to either urn, and unmis- 
takably drops each borrowed timepiece into it. Then, 
quickly walking to the other side of the stage, he extracts 
the same articles from the other vase and returns them 
to the audience. The secret of this startling effect is 
that the assistant slips a cylinder with a bottom into one 
of the vases while the performer is borrowing the watches. 
Then, directly they are all dropped inside the urn, the 
cylinder is removed and carried over and deposited in 
the vase upon the other side, thus allowing them to be 
removed therefrom. The principle of changing objects 
can be relied upon for many weird transformations. 



HOW TO BE A SPIRIT MEDIUM 

OR RULES TO BE OBSERVED WHEN FORM- 
ING SPIRITUAL CIRCLES 

The spirit circle is the assembling together of a given 
number of persons for the purpose of seeking communion 
with the spirits who have passed away from earth into the 
higher world of souls. The chief advantage of such an 
assembly is the mutual impartation and reception of the 
combined magnetisms of the assemblage. These in com- 
bination form a force stronger than that of an isolate 
subject: first enabling spirits to commune with great 
power; next developing the latent gifts of mediumship 
in such members of the circle as are thus endowed; and, 
finally, promoting that harmonious and social spirit of fra- 
ternal intercourse which is one of the especial aims of the 
spirits' mission. 

The first conditions to be observed relate to the persons 
who compose the circle. These should be, as far as pos- 
sible, of opposite temperaments, as positive and negative 
in disposition whether male or female ; also of moral char- 
acters, pure minds, and not marked by repulsive points 
of either physical or mental condition. The physical tem- 
peraments should contrast with each other ; but no person 
suffering from decidedly chronic disease, or of a very 
debilitated physique, should be present at any circle un- 
less it is formed expressly for healing purposes. I would 
recommend the number of the circle never to be less than 
three nor more than twelve. 

The use growing out of the association of differing 

129 



130 HERRMANN'S WIZARDS' MANUAL 

temperaments is to form a battery on the principles of 
electricity or galvanism, composed of positive and nega- 
tive elements, the sum of which should be unequal. No 
person of a very strongly positive temperament or dispo- 
sition should be present, as any magnetic spheres emanat- 
ing from the circle will overpower that of the spirits, 
who must always be positive to the circle in order to 
produce phenomena. It is not desirable to have more 
than two already well developed mediums in a circle, 
mediums always absorbing the magnetism of the rest of 
the party; hence, when there are too many present, the 
force, being divided, cannot operate successfully with any. 

Of Temperature. — Never let the apartment be over- 
heated, or even close. As an unusual amount of mag- 
netism is liberated at a circle, the room is always warmer 
than ordinary, and should be very well ventilated. Avoid 
strong light, which, by producing excessive motion in the 
atmosphere, disturbs the manifestations. A very subdued 
light is the most favorable for any manifestations of a 
magnetic character, especially for spiritual magnetism. 

Of the Positions to be Observed. — If the circle is 
one which meets another periodically, and is composed 
of the same persons, let them occupy the same seats (un- 
less changed under spiritual direction), and sit (as the 
most favorable of all positions) round a table, their hands 
laid on it, with palms downwards. It is believed that 
the wood, when charged, becomes a conductor, without 
the necessity of touching or holding hands. I should al- 
ways suggest the propriety of employing a table as a 
conductor, especially as all tables in household use are 
more or less magnetically charged already. If flowers 
and fruit are in the room, see that they are just freshly 
gathered, otherwise remove them; also avoid sitting in 
a room with many minerals, metals or glasses; these all 
injuriously effect sensitives, of whom mediums are the 
type. 



HERRMANN'S WIZARDS' MANUAL 131 

I recommend the seance to be opened either with prayer 
or music, vocal or instrumental; after which, subdued, 
quiet and harmonizing conversation is better than weari- 
some silence; but let the conversation be always directed 
toward the purpose of the gathering, and never sink into 
discussion, or rise to emphasis; let it be gentle, quiet and 
spiritual, until phenomena begin to be manifest. Always 
have a slate, or pen, pencil and paper on the table, so as 
not to be obliged to rise to procure them. Especially 
avoid all entering or quitting the room, moving about, 
irrelevant conversation or disturbances of any kind within 
or without the circle room, after the seance has been once 
commenced. 

The spirits are far more punctual to seasons, faithful 
to promise and periodical in action, than mortals. En- 
deavor, then, to fix your circle at a convenient hour when 
you will be least interrupted and do not fail in your ap- 
pointments. Do not admit unpunctual late comers; nor, 
if possible, suffer the air of the room to be disturbed in 
any way after the sitting commences. Nothing but neces- 
sity, indisposition, or impressions (to be hereafter de- 
scribed) should warrant the least disturbance of the 
sitting, which should never exceed two hours, unless an 
extension of time be solicited of the spirits. Let the 
seance always extend to one hour, even if no results are 
obtained; it sometimes requires all that time for spirits 
to form their battery of the materials furnished. Let it 
be also remembered that all circles are experimental; 
hence no one should be discouraged if phenomena are not 
produced after the first few sittings. Stay with the same 
circle for six sittings: if no phenomena are then produced 
(provided all the above conditions are observed) you 
may be sure you are rightly assimilated to each other, you 
do not form the requisite combinations, or neutralize each 
other. In that case, break up, and let that circle of mem- 
bers meet with other persons; that is, change one, two, or 



132 HERRMANN'S WIZARDS' MANUAL 

three persons of your circle for others, and so on, until 
you succeed. 

A well-developed test-medium may sit without injury 
for any person, of any description of character or tem- 
perament; but a circle sitting for mutual development 
should never admit persons addicted to bad habits, crimi- 
nals, sensualists, strongly positive persons of any kind, 
whether rude, skeptical, violent tempered, or dogmatical. 
An humble, candid, inquiring spirit, unprejudiced, and 
receptive of truth, is the only frame of mind in which to 
sit for phenomena, the delicate magnetism of which is 
shaped, tempered, and made or marred as much by mental 
as physical conditions. When once any of the circle can 
communicate freely and conclusively with the spirits, the 
spirits can and will take charge of and regulate the future 
movements of the circle. 

Of Impressions. — Impressions are the voices of spirits 
speaking to our spirits, or else the monitions of the spirit 
within us, and should always be respected and followed 
out, unless (which is very rare) suggestive of actual 
w T rong in act or word. At the opening of the circle, one 
or more of the members are often impressed to change 
seats with others; one or more impressed with the desire 
to withdraw, or a strong feeling of repulsion to some 
member of the circle, makes it painful to remain there. 
Let any or all of these impressions be faithfully regarded, 
and, at commencing, pledge to each other the promise that 
no offense shall be taken by following out impressions. 

If a strong impression to w T rite, speak, sing, dance, or 
gesticulate, possess any mind present, follow it out faith- 
fully. It has a meaning, if you cannot at first realize it. 
Never feel hurt in your own person, nor ridicule your 
neighbors, for any failures to express, or at first discover 
the meaning of the spirits impressing you. 

Spirit control is often deficient, and at first almost 
always imperfect. But, by often yielding to it, your 



HERRMANN'S WIZARDS' MANUAL 133 

organism becomes more flexible, and the spirit more ex- 
perienced; and practice in control is absolutely necessary 
for spirits as well as mortals. If dark and evil-disposed 
spirits manifest to you, never drive them away, but always 
strive to elevate them, and treat them as you would mor- 
tals under similar circumstances. Do not always attribute 
falsehoods to lying spirits or deceiving mediums. Many 
mistakes occur in the communion of which you cannot 
always be aware. 

Strive in truth, but rebuke error gently; and do not 
always attribute it to design, but rather to mistake in 
so difficult and experimental a stage of the communion 
as mortals at present enjoy with the spirits. 

Unless strictly charged by spirits to do otherwise, do 
not continue to hold sittings with the same parties for 
more than a year. After that time, if not before, fresh 
elements of magnetism are absolutely essential. Some of 
the original circle should withdraw and others take their 
places. 

All persons are subject to spirit influence and spirit 
guidance and control, but not all can so externalize this 
power as to use it consciously or be what is significantly 
called a medium; and finally, let it be remembered, that 
except in the case of trance-speakers no medium can ever 
hope successfully to exercise his or her gift in a large 
or promiscuous assembly; while trance-speakers, no less 
than mediums for any other gift, can never be influenced 
by spirits far beyond their own normal capacity in the 
matter of the intelligence rendered ; the magnetism of 
the spirit and the spirit-circle being but a quickening fire, 
which inspires the brain, stimulates the faculties, and, 
like a hot-house process on plants, forces in abnormal 
prominence dormant or latent powers of mind, but creates 
nothing. Even in the case of merely automatic speakers, 
writers, rapping, tipping, and other forms of test mediums, 
the intelligence or idea of the spirit is always measurably 



134 HERRMANNS WIZARDS' MANUAL 

shaped by the capacity or idiosyncrasies of the medium. 
All spirit power is thus limited to expression by organism 
through which it works; and spirits may control, inspire, 
and influence the human mind, but do not change or 
recreate it. 



MIND READING 

The method of reading thought, as practiced by the 
late Washington Irving Bishop, and others. 

With these " mind readers " actual thought transfer- 
ence by air waves, ethereal influence, etc., does not form 
any part of their programme ; indeed, it is even a question 
to-day as to whether or not such is a possibility. 

The usual feats of the mind reader who gives public 
exhibitions are to find concealed articles, write names 
thought of, pick out keys thought of on piano or similar 
instrument, and so forth. I will first explain 

HOW TO FIND A HIDDEN PIN. 

Request that someone produce an ordinary pin. 

Allow yourself to be blindfolded and accompanied to a 
separate room by some person in the audience, in whom the 
spectators place confidence. While you are thus volun- 
tarily exiled, one person in the auditorium (whether it 
be parlor or theater), is to fix his mind upon some place, 
then slowly walk there and hide the pin. He then re- 
turns to his seat. The others who are present, of course 
know where the article is. 

You are now taken into the auditorium. The person 
who hid the pin is requested to come and take your hand, 
you being blindfolded. Ask him to fix his right hand 
flatly upon yours, facing in the same direction, i. e., his 
fingers are placed against yours. You now place your 
hand upon the back of his, thus holding his hand in a sort 
of vise. In order to hold his hand as above described, it 
will be necessary for him to remain close to your side, 
yet he should not otherwise come in contact with you. 

i35 



136 HERRMANN'S WIZARDS' MANUAL 

Now tell him to fix his mind intently upon the spot where 
the pin is hidden, and that you will lead him to the local- 
ity. The secret of doing this seemingly supernatural feat 
is as follows : 

Relax your vise-like position of hands, so that if he 
desired he could pull his hand away without much fric- 
tion. Now, although you have not the remotest knowl- 
edge (and you should not have any idea) as to where 

- the pin is hidden, start off suddenly in some direction and 
request that he follow you, but go so fast at first that you 
will pull away from his hand. By practice you will learn 
that if you have started in the proper direction, he will 
willingly accompany you; if you should have started in 
another direction, he will unconsciously hold back. His 
resistance will be very slight, almost imperceptible, except 
to a practiced operator. Let us suppose that you have 
found that you are going in the right direction, move 
along fast. When it is time to turn, his mind being in- 
tently fixed upon the place he wants to go to, will uncon- 
sciously, but very naturally, control his muscles, so that 
he will at once show a slight resistance, and if you take 
immediate action upon this " hint " and turn, he will 
either " favor " you or show more resistance, according 
to whether you turn in correct or incorrect direction. 
When you have approached near to the spot, there will 
be more resistance or freedom in accompanying you. 
Then your " fine work " begins. Change the position of 
hands so that his form the vise while your right hand is 
the one between. Your left hand is now extended as a 
" feeler." Request that while he attentively watches your 
left hand, he also keeps his mind more intently than ever 
upon the location of the object. Raise your left hand up, 
at the same time raising your right hand slightly upward. 

, If his thoughts are upon a place that is above the usual 
level of your hands, he will willingly raise his hands 
(which are on your right hand flatly), or if the article 



HERRMANN'S WIZARDS' MANUAL 137 

is hidden low, he will resist, but favor your hands when 
you begin to move them downward. Thus you can 
closely locate the article. If you are not blindfolded 
tightly, you can quite easily see what is below your nose, 
and this may enable you to catch sight of the pin and pick 
it up more readily, otherwise follow your " cues." 

The foregoing explanation is the same as I once paid 
one hundred dollars for. The whole secret is in the 
fact that if a person is intently thinking of some object 
in a certain place, his head will generally unconsciously- 
lean toward the spot in question. If he is walking with 
a mind reader, who declares that he is about to go to the 
certain spot, the person will involuntarily aid him in 
doing so, as I have indicated. Some performers do not 
adopt the first position of hands, and then change them 
when probably near the object, as I have described, but 
instead, use the last named position entirely, thus leaving 
the left hand of the operator free at all times. 

The secret of picking out certain notes or keys on a 
piano is similar. In this case move your left hand quickly 
from one end to the other, at the same time moving your 
right hand. Your accompanist will involuntarily hesi- 
tate somewhere, then you may stop and move your left 
hand over a very limited space until you finally settle 
upon the exact spot. 

To write a name thought of, is the most difficult of 
all. This is done on a large blackboard. With chalk 
in your left hand, mark out lines in shape of letters. The 
person whose thought you are reading will assist you. 
without knowing he is doing so. 

Other feats are done on the same principle. 

If the person whom you are operating with does not 
keep his mind intently upon what you require, you will 
not be as likely to succeed. If you fail, you can ascribe 
this as the reason. The late Foster, a celebrated " spirit- 
ualist," used to tell names by picking out letters on chil- 



138 HERRMANN'S WIZARDS' MANUAL 

dren's toy alphabet blocks. This he did in a similar way 
to that I have described for rinding certain keys on a 
piano. 

Pick out your " subject " or person whom you 
will operate with carefully. Avoid those of the extremely 
skeptical or " know it all " kind. Do not try to do much 
with women, unless they are aged and believe you to be 
a medium ; in fact, those who believe in you will be your 
best assistants. Do not select as an accompanist a person 
who is about your own age; such a person is usually 
jealous, and does not want you to succeed. Avoid law- 
yers and doctors as assistants; they are recognized as 
being more adept in all things than the balance of man- 
kind, therefore they will oppose you on general principles. 
The best " subjects " are clergymen, aged people and be- 
lievers in spiritualism. Although most mind readers allow 
pins to be hidden, a knife, or pocketbook will do quite 
as well and is easier to locate when near. 

Before trying anything of this sort in public, practice 
well. Remember that you cannot acquire all in a day. 

I have told the secret, and anyone who cares to practice 
will soon learn the details and master them. 



VENTRILOQUISM 
AND HOW TO ACQUIRE THE ART 

BY PROF. CALLAHAN 

I presume that all professional ventriloquists have their 
own methods of accomplishing the art. I certainly have 
mine, and the instructions herein given are based upon 
my own experience. I learned without the aid of books 
or teachers. I did not discover that I possessed this art. 
I made up my mind I would possess it, and with a little 
perseverance I succeeded. My first exhibitions were 
given at sociables, amateur entertainments, etc. In a 
very short time my services w^ere in demand in other cir- 
cles, and my continued engagements throughout the coun- 
try are but proof of what proficiency I have attained. 

I mention this as an incentive to all ambitious students. 

Apart from the financial value attached to the pro- 
fessional exhibition of this art, there is much pleasure 
and amusement to be derived from its practice among 
one's friends. 

Requiring as it does little or no paraphernalia, it is 
applicable to almost any entertainment or gathering. 
Probably many can recall anecdotes or practical jokes 
perpetrated by persons proficient in the art. 

The word ventriloquism is from Ventor, the belly, and 
Loquor, to speak. Literally, speaking from the belly. 
Many persons imagine that it is a natural gift. Profes- 
sional ventriloquists favor the idea to keep others out of 
the field. 

I am asked almost every day if a " person has to be 

i39 



i 4 o HERRMANN'S WIZARDS' MANUAL 

born that way." In answer, let me say here, that almost 
anyone, possessing an ordinary vocal apparatus, without 
defect, can, by continued study, become thoroughly ac- 
quainted with the mysteries of this art. I will not say 
that everyone can learn it. 

The student should possess certain requisites. He 
should have an ear acutely perceptive to the nice distinc- 
tion of sounds, combined with an ardent desire to learn, 
and a determination to " stick to it " until the study has 
been given a fair trial. The progress of the student will 
be greatly facilitated if he has a natural talent for mimicry. 
We very often meet people who can imitate the voice or 
mannerisms of some friend or acquaintance, although 
never having professional instruction. Such persons would 
invariably become good ventriloquists under proper train- 
ing. All the works upon the subject that have come 
under my observation seem to be of no help whatsoever 
to the student. The methods are unintelligible, and al- 
most impossible to follow. Many chapters are devoted 
to a detailed description as to how and when the art was 
discovered. " Ventriloquism among the Ancients/' etc. 
All this is non-essential and not particularly interesting. 

My object in writing this work is to present, in as 
few and as simple words as possible, the facts which will 
be of material aid to those interested. I do not consider 
it necessary to give an anatomical description of the for- 
mation of the throat. How many of my readers would 
comprehend such terms as diaphragm, trachea, larynx, 
pharynx, etc.? They only tend to confuse the reader, 
and are of no essential benefit. 

Before giving instruction relative to the different voices, 
I would call your attention to a very important point. 
The attention of the audience must always be attracted 
to the point from which the voice is to come. 

It matters not whether it is to come from the distance, 
or from an automatic figure. The action must be so skill- 



HERRMANN'S WIZARDS' MANUAL 141 

fully unobtrusive as to effect its object without its being 
apparent to the audience — a look, gesture, or announce- 
ment, as occasion seems to demand. 

If you but turn your head, after having made an an- 
nouncement that " Mr. So-and-so is up there, " the atten- 
tion of the audience will be immediately attracted to that 
point, and before you have uttered a word, they will be 
impressed with the idea that » the voice is to come from 
the suggested direction. With the audience in this ex- 
pectant state it does not take much of the so-called 
" power " to deceive them. 

How much easier it is to catch a ball when prepared to 
receive it. Having prepared your audience, the thing is 
to execute w^hat I shall term the distant voice. To be- 
come proficient in this requires practice. 

As a beginning, the student should strain a little from 
the chest , as if in pain, making a prolonged grunting 
sound in a high key. Let the air escape slowly, keeping 
the lips and teeth but slightly apart. Having tried this 
a few minutes, attempt to say such words as " Oh — oh, 
dear!" "I say!" " Halloo!" etc., straining a little 
all the time. 

This will give you the exact location from whence this 
voice is to be started. After a few trials, you will be 
astonished at the proficiency you have already attained. 
It will be of great help to the student to note the effect 
produced by a person calling from the distance. Observe 
the sound carefully, and try to reproduce it by the method 
laid down. After a few trials, you will be able to exe- 
cute the sound with scarcely an effort. The sound should 
be somewhat muffled. The hardest point to overcome is 
to make the voice appear to come nearer. As this voice 
is usually represented as coming from a box or closet, a 
suggestive movement of the lid or door will help the 
illusion. As the lid is gradually raised, the sound must 
be heard more distinctly. To effect this, the student 



i 4 2 HERRMANN'S, WIZARDS' MANUAL 

should gradually relieve the strain on the chest, making 
the sound farther up in the throat, so that when the lid 
is fully raised, the sound will come directly from the roof 
of the mouth. In closing the box, the same principle re- 
versed will apply. 

From the time the lid is raised until it is closed, use 
only the " distant voice." Do not interrupt it with the 
natural tone. You will find this, too, difficult to over- 
come, without long practice. Before you open the box, 
you can hold a conversation with the supposed character 
inside, or even opening the box and allowing the lid to 
remain up, have your dialogue; but as the tone is chang- 
ing all the time the lid is in motion, it must be evident 
that the introduction of your natural tone only tends to 
make it more difficult. It is better to keep up a continual 
talking in the mimetic voice, while opening and closing 
the box, than to break up the speech. A very good exhi- 
bition of the " distant voice " can be given by bidding 
" good-night " to a supposed person outside. As the voice 
upon the outside grows faint and appears to go away in 
the distance, the natural tone of the performer should 
grow louder in equal proportion. In order to carry out 
the deception, it must be made to appear to the audience 
that the outside man could not hear your voice unless you 
called in a loud tone. 

Another good illustration of the " distant voice " is to 
represent a charcoal man as if nearing the house, passing 
it, and going away. Use only the word charcoal. The 
€i distant voice/' in the same key can be made to represent 
different characters successively. 

As an experiment, I have located this voice in a box, 
and turning around, used the same voice as if coming from 
above. According to the statements of the audience, it 
appeared to have an entirely different sound and to repre- 
sent two distinct persons. This can be easily accounted 



HERRMANN'S WIZARDS' MANUAL 143 

for. The audience were deceived by my suggestive move- 
ments. Having made up their minds that they were to 
hear a different person, they did not realize I was using the 
same voice. 

It is so difficult to execute the " distant voice " in dif- 
ferent keys that, where it is desirable to introduce a 
number of characters, it is best to do so by what I call 
transition. Transition means, according to Webster, a 
passage to another place. The trick is to alter the natural 
tones of the voice , so as to make a very apparent distinc- 
tion between it and the mimetic voice. This can be done 
so skillfully that. the audience will not realize the change. 
This is one of the greatest secrets of the art, and is essential 
to success. 

If your mimetic voice is to be low, you must raise the 
natural tone in your announcement relative to where the 
voice is to come from. You will find that by making 
your reply in the mimetic voice, in a tone but a trifle 
lower than the natural one, the difference or transition 
will be so great that the mimetic voice will appear very 
deep in comparison. If you are to continue the dialogue, 
and the next voice is to be high, let your natural tone be 
but a trifle higher than the one you have just given as 
the low voice. This will make another marked difference. 
The whole secret is in making these jumps, or " transi- 
tions," without its being apparent to the audience. A little 
care is all that is necessary. As has been stated before, 
ventriloquism is talking from the stomach; yet a great 
portion of the work done by professional exhibitors is not, 
strictly speaking, ventriloquism. It is the power of imi- 
tating various dialects and different tones of the voice, 
without moving the lips. To do this it is not necessary 
to " speak from the stomach." In a work upon the sub- 
ject that I have seen, it says: " It is very rarely that a 
ventriloquist shows a full face to the audience." This 



144 HERRMANN'S WIZARDS' MANUAL 

statement appears erroneous. At the present time a pro- 
fessional exhibitor must be^able to face his audience during 
the entire performance, and must have such control over 
the muscles of the face that not a movement can be de- 
tected while the voices are being heard. To become 
skilled in this portion of the art, the student should prac- 
tice before a mirror. 

It is best to learn to produce the sounds first without 
any attempt at holding the mouth still. Having mas- 
tered this, observe the following directions : 

Keep the lips in a natural position, opened but a little. 
The teeth should almost touch each other; hold the jaws 
rigid, and in this position you will find that the tongue 
can be used almost as readily as in ordinary conversation. 
There should be no apparent effort. The countenance 
should appear perfectly at ease. 

This rule will apply to all the mimetic voices used. 
At first it will seem impossible to pronounce certain words 
without moving the lips, but when the method is known, 
whereby certain sounds (resembling distinct pronunci- 
ation) are substituted, it will appear very easy. In pro- 
nouncing the alphabet the sound of V is substituted for 
B. M is pronounced like eng. For P use fee, W, 
duggle-you. Words difficult to articulate should be 
avoided as much as possible. In rendering a popular 
song, the performer cannot well substitute words of hfe 
own, but must adhere closely to the original. The fact 
of a song being popular is of great help to the performer. 
The audience being more or less familiar with the words 
are not apt to watch the pronunciation so carefully. Oc- 
casionally, very troublesome words will occur, and the 
exhibitor must substitute a sound resembling the original. 
Thus: Babies on our Block should be rendered Vavies on 
our Vlock; a big piano, a vig flano; My Mary Ann, Ngi 
Ngary Ann, etc. 

A valuable adjunct to an exhibition is to have several 



HERRMANN'S WIZARDS' MANUAL 145 

" character " dolls manufactured, with movable jaws. 
There is no limit to the variety of characters that can be 
introduced in this way, old or young, male or female, 
Irish, Scotch, Negro, and in fact, almost any character 
that may suggest itself. 

The imitation of the sounds of animals, insects, the 
sawing and planing of wood, etc., is called Polyphonism. 
As it is so often used in conjunction with ventriloquism, 
a few words in explanation will not be out of place. 

To be an expert mimic of any peculiar sound, the stu- 
dent should study from the original as much as possible. 
Some sounds are almost impossible to describe, and the 
reader must invent his own method of imitation. " What 
is one man's physic is another's poison." I will attempt 
to describe the manner of making some of the imitations. 

A Bee. — Use considerable pressure upon the chest, 
making exactly the same sound as has been laid down 
as preliminary practice for the distant voice. 

A Mosquito. — Use the pressure as before in the very 
highest pitch you can reach. 

A Fly. — Close the lips tight except at one corner. 
Fill that cheek full of wind and force it to escape through 
the aperture. In giving these Polyphonic imitations, the 
performer should help out the illusion by some suggestive 
action. Make the sounds faint, then loud. In giving an 
imitation of a bee, produce a handkerchief and chase the 
bee around. After pretending to catch it, put the hand- 
kerchief containing the bee (?) into the pocket. In- 
venting an excuse, reproduce the handkerchief, and as 
you bring it forth allow the bee to escape. A good finale 
will be to pretend to tear the handkerchief. Allowing 
the handkerchief to pass through the thumb and fore- 
finger, make a noise which, as near as I can describe, is 
a spitting through the lips. 

The sound of sawing wood is imitated by a sort of 
" hawking " sound. It will always cause a laugh to shift 



146 HERRMANN'S WIZARDS' MANUAL 

off as if the saw had struck a knot. The sound is made 
by pressing the lips together and forcing them open with 
the expelled air. A meat saw can be imitated by the 
" hawking " method used in a higher key, and with the 
addition of a sort of hissing sound. 

To represent planing use the syllable " sh," or " tsh," 
carrying out the movement of planing. 

There is no limit to these imitations. The sounds of 
hens, roosters, dogs, cats, and in fact almost any animal 
can be imitated and prove acceptable. 

The drawing of a glass of soda water makes a very 
good illusion. Practice from the original ; that is the best 
way. 

The mountain echo is a very pretty imitation. I have 
heard of people asserting that ventriloquism was an echo, 
but that unquestionably is a great mistake, as an echo 
only repeats, it does not answer a question. 

To imitate an echo (and it can be produced in an ordi- 
nary-sized room, and invariably delights juveniles) , whistle 
loud several short, quick notes, as if you were whistling 
for a dog; then, as quickly as possible after the last note, 
and very soft and subdued, whistle about a third of the 
number of notes; but it must be in exactly the same pitch 
or note e This will cause the whistle to appear exactly 
like an echo at a great distance. This imitation, if well 
done, is very effective. You can also produce an echo of 
any sentence you wish to speak. Always let your voice 
be formed close to the lips, and answer immediately, sub- 
dued and in the same note and words, forming the echo 
in the back part of the mouth. You will have a charming 
echo. 

The reader must not be discouraged if not successful 
in his first attempts. Do not give up. I claim that 
almost anyone who can imitate any peculiar dialect, can 
become an acceptable ventriloquist by following the rule 
for holding the mouth rigid. 



HERRMANN'S WIZARDS' MANUAL 147 

There is not so much difficulty in learning the art as is 
generally supposed. I am confident that I could, by per- 
sonal instruction, teach any person of ordinary ability in 
a few lessons. 

By carefully following the instructions given here, the 
reader ought to make considerable progress. 

It is mostly a matter of practice. The art can be ac- 
quired by any person with the proper amount of study. 

CONCLUDING REMARKS. 

I would offer a few brief remarks on points to be re- 
membered in practicing mimicry and improving ventrilo- 
quial power. In the practice of mimicry study from 
nature, and make an especial study of sound for ven- 
triloquism. For it must be remembered that the power 
and acuteness of hearing is possessed in a greater or lesser 
degree by different individuals, and depends on the sensi- 
bility of the auric nerves. It is said that the human ear 
is capable of appreciating as many as twenty thousand — 
nay, twenty-four thousand — vibrations in a second, and 
that the whole range of human hearing, from the lowest 
note of the organ to the highest known cry of the insects 
(as that of the cricket), includes nine octaves. It is 
absolutely necessary for the ventriloquist to possess all 
the organs of sound entire and without fault to succeed 
well, as by nice judgment of sound the professional ven- 
triloquist judges the majority of his voices, especially 
those greatly obscured and muffled. The student of ven- 
triloquism will become more proficient as he is able to 
understand thoroughly the human voice, for there is the 
language of emotion, or natural language, by which the 
feelings manifest themselves without previous teaching, 
and which is recognized and felt without teaching. For 
instance, there is the scream of joy, of terror, the laugh 
of satisfaction, laugh of sarcasm and ridicule, which are 
made by man, and understood by his fellow man, what- 



148 HERRMANN'S WIZARDS' MANUAL 

ever may be the speech or country of the other. There is 
also to be considered the distinct qualities of voice pe- 
culiar to each person, both in tone and quality. There- 
fore I would advise the student to practice the imitation 
of different voices, and let each voice be in a different 
note or pitch. The student, to become proficient, must 
never tire of continual practice of sound as it falls on the 
ear. He will find it will clear away many difficulties 
of acquiring more or less perfection as a mimic, and im- 
prove him as a ventriloquist, if nature has gifted him 
with the power of ventriloquism. 

CALLAHAN AND THE SKELETON. 

Strolling down Broadway one day, Callahan and a 
friend came to a halt in front of a well-known phreno- 
logical store. In the window were busts of statesmen, 
authors, military men, murderers, idiots, and small heads 
of every description. They glanced in through the open 
door. There were half-a-dozen people standing about, 
staring into the glass cases ranged along the wall, fitted 
with plaster casts and skulls of celebrated characters, long 
since forgotten. A sallow, yellow-faced man, named 
Butts, with a fiery top-knot of hair, was standing before 
a little group of men and women, half-a-dozen in num- 
ber, holding up an old ghastly skull in his hand, evidently 
describing it to them. Behind him, suspended to the wall, 
and artistically wired together, was a full-length, com- 
plete skeleton. Followed by his friend, Callahan walked 
in. ' You see," said the sallow face, in a pedantic tone, 
" how large the organ of destructiveness is developed." 
" Hand-organ," said Callahan, throwing his voice near 
the skeleton, in a groaning tone. The crowd looked up 
at the motionless skeleton, then at Butts, and Butts glared 
around. There was a momentary silence, and then the 
phrenologist began again : " This skull was once a part 
of the living body of the notorious Gibbs, the pirate — " 



HERRMANN'S WIZARDS' MANUAL 149 

,€ That's a lie! " This time the voice, harsh and grating, 
seemed to come from the skull in Butts' hand. He 
dropped the skull upon the hard floor, with a wild excla- 
mation. The skull struck the floor so hard that it cracked 
the jaw off, and scattered the white and grinning teeth 
all around. 

'There, you've broke my jaw with your nonsense!" 
came from the skull. " Great Caesar! " tremblingly cried 
Butts, throwing up his hands and starting back; " It's a 
miracle!" At the same instant there came from the 
skeleton a horrible, fiendish " ha-ha! " laugh. 

This completed the scare of Butts and his friends, and 
pell-mell they rushed out of the store, Butts half a lap 
ahead and gaining on himself at every swing of his long 
legs. 

Butts, on the pavement, pitched headlong into the 
breastworks of a man in a blue blouse, with a large bas- 
ketful of crockeryware on his arm, and in this collision 
away tumbled both of them upon the stones, amid the 
crash of plates and pitchers, the cries and yells of the 
downf alien, and the laughter and jeers of the crowd. 

Callahan and his friend made their way out, and left 
the crockery man, Butts and the rest to quarrel it out 
among themselves. 

CALLAHAN, THE VENTRILOQUIST 

While performing in Philadelphia, I was out one after- 
noon, and feeling quite fatigued, entered a saloon, and 
seated myself in one corner. Just then an Irishman 
dropped in ; and he w^as an Irishman, to be sure — a big, 
red-headed, raw-mouthed terrier, about six feet eleven 
inches high. He yelled out, with the air of a kine* 
"Whiskey!" 

I felt as though I would like to worry him, and so he 
became the victim of sport. Someone in the rear of the 
store cried out: " Give him turpentine; he's a lusher! " 



150 HERRMANN'S WIZARDS' MANUAL 

The Turk got angry at such an insulting remark, and 
offered to fight the man who made the suggestion, when 
the voice, a little nearer, answered: " You are too fresh; 
you could not kill a flea, you big Irish-Dutchman ! " 

" Oh! murther! what the divil ails me? There must 
be something w T rong; there's a man down in the cellar, and 
I'm going to find him if it costs me my life! " " Don't 
let him go down in the cellar. He will drink all the 
whiskey! " said the voice that he was so angry at. Then 
the bar-tender joined in: "No; you had better not go 
down in that cellar. There's a dog down there — - a 
Scotch terrier — and if you go down there he don't know 
you, and he may bite you. ,, 

" Let the terrier go down," said the voice, " and they'll 
both have a fight! " This angered the brave son of the 
Emerald Isle, and he swore to be revenged on the man 
who was insulting and poking fun at him. I however left 
the place, for I was so overcome with laughter that I could 
not stand it any longer. I met the same man the next day, 
and asked him to pardon me for playing a trick on him the 
day before. " How so? " says he; "I never saw you be- 
fore." " Well," said I, " do you remember the man you 
offered to fight, yesterday, at the saloon ? " mentioning 
Arch street. " Oh, bejabers I do," said he; " was that 
you? Well," said he, " they said, after you left, that you 
was a ventriloquist, and I would not believe them; I 
swore that such a thing could not be." Then I invited 
him to call and see me perform at the National Theater; 
he did so, and I'll venture to say that he'll never forget it, 
or me. 



THE END 



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A Batch of Smiles (humor) 
A Little Nonsense " 

Flashes of Irish Wit " 
Some Irish Smiles " 

Anecdotes of the Great War 
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Wit and Humor of Abraham Lincoln 
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020 237 545 5 



*MiWf ■■ K&mMi 



FLASHES OF IRISH WIT 

160 Page*. Paper Corert. Price 30 seat*. 

BY CARLETON B. CASE. 

The best bulls, blunders and banter 
by the sons and daughters of the Emerald 
Isle, gathered into one volume for the 
delectation of all who appreciate a hearty 
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from the ancient Irish authors, with their 
"Handy Andys' 5 and other butts and 
jokers, but, in the main, is the best wit 
of the modern, the transplanted Irishman, 
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fun you ever read, and to say that is equiv- 
alent to saying that it is a book of un- 
surpassed humor, for the Irishman above 
all others "takes the cake** as a natural 
wit* ifl^^Mfel 



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